Statewide KSP Posts covering shifts to allow Post 3 to have time off to mourn

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Kentucky State Police posts across the Commonwealth are banning together to help the local Post 3 have time off to mourn the loss of their brother and friend, Trooper Hayden Phillips.

Most people don’t investigate their coworker’s murder.

Most never see what some of the troopers had to see.

Most mourners do not have to drive for hours looking for their own friend’s alleged murderer.

But Kentucky State Police Troopers at Post 3 did.

That takes a toll. 

They lost a friend and continued doing their jobs.

They were in shock and couldn’t miss a beat serving and protecting. 

Because.. they had to. 

But for the rest of the week and until Monday, these men and women, all sworn officers and dispatchers at Post 3, will be allowed to stay home with their families and attend all services for Phillips.

“The brain can only hold so much. So, I mean, these guys just needed time off in dispatches, they’re actually getting debriefed right now. And our troopers, they still want to work. But there’s guys that are like, ‘hey, you need to take some time off’ because it’s a good thing, because if you don’t take time off in a job like this, and you go out there, and your brain’s not in the right place, the bad things can happen,” said KSP Trooper Katan Parker.

All thanks to fellow law enforcement from other areas stepping in to cover the Post 3 area.

“That is one thing this did, it’s brought us all together. And not just Post 3, the entire state and outside of this state, we get troopers coming from other states just to be a part of this,” said Parker.

Wednesday would have been Phillips’ birthday. 

The community has placed birthday banners and balloons all over his car to celebrate him.

“Today, he would be 29 years old, and I just want to wish Officer Phillips a happy birthday,” said Lisa Gregory, a friend of Phillips.

“It means the world, I just wish he was here to see it,” said Parker.

Parker also confirms that Phillip’s cuffs were used in the arrest of his alleged shooter. 

A common practice among law enforcement that symbolizes completing the job the officer started, honors the fallen, restores a sense of justice and sends a message of unity among officers.