Kentucky State Police are embroiled in a controversy over what they say are old training materials no longer in use. The slide show in question made use of quotes from Adolf Hitler and Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
The training materials, first reported on by Louisville student newspaper The Manual RedEye, include a slide show called The Warrior Mindset. Peppered throughout are quotes ranging from lines attributed to Ben Franklin to thoughts from Albert Einstein. But it's the inclusion of quotes from Adolf Hitler, including one advocating a "perpetually constant and regular deployment of violence," which are raising alarms.
"To train police with the image of Hitler to be killers, to be warriors, is a phenomenal error in judgment," Lexington Rabbi Shlomo Litvin told WKYT, adding the materials warrant retraining for officers who may have gone through the program. "They need to attend some sort of course to learn what was wrong with this, how this got anyone's approval."
A spokesperson for the KSP told the RedEye that the quotes were used for their "content and relevance to the topic addressed in the presentation," which touched on "several aspects of service, selflessness, and moral guidance. All of these topics go to the fundamentals of law enforcement such as treating everyone equally, service to the public, and being guided by the law.”
While the state Justice Cabinet says the materials haven't been used since 2013, Gov. Andy Beshear labeled use of the quotes "absolutely unacceptable" and vowed to collect all the facts and take "immediate corrective action."
Update: Gov. Andy Beshear says there will be a review of all training materials, notes it's believed that the Warrior Mindset presentation may only have been given once.
