KSP places 2nd behind Florida in cruiser contest
Published 8:46 am Tuesday, July 30, 2024
The Kentucky State Police (KSP) thanked Kentuckians for voting for their 2024 Ford Mustang GT as the nation’s best-looking cruiser as they sought their fourth overall win, but instead fell to Florida in a neck-and-neck race.
KSP entered the American Association of State Troopers (AAST) “2024 Best Looking Cruiser Contest,” competing against state law enforcement agencies nationwide. The top 13 entries earned a spot on the association’s 2025 wall calendar. Kentucky placed second overall, so the KSP cruiser will be featured as the February cruiser for the upcoming calendar.
This year, KSP’s entry featured a 2024 Ford Mustang GT in front of the Secretariat statue in the roundabout at Alexandria Drive and Old Frankfort Pike in Lexington. This photo was a testament to Kentucky’s beloved horse racing industry and honored the recent anniversary of Secretariat’s triple-crown win and the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby.
State Police say the AAST competition was tough. KSP and Florida battled for first place, but Florida edged out the win by 2,000 votes. Over 276,000 total votes were cast among the 50 state police agencies, with KSP receiving 26,091. KSP has placed in the top five over the past six years, winning back-to-back races in 2021 and 2022.
“Witnessing the outpouring of support from Kentuckians has been humbling,” said KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. “While we fell short of our goal, the creativity among agencies was on full display, often in a humorous way, and helped show the human side of law enforcement.”
After Florida and Kentucky, the rest of the top 12 cruisers, which will appear on the calendars were Nevada, West Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Michigan, Georgia, Alabama and Iowa.
The 2025 calendars are available for pre-order at www.statetroopers.org, with proceeds benefiting educational scholarships to children of troopers.