Republican Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is asking the state legislature for more funding for a grant program within his office that’s provided law enforcement with body armor. Coleman during a Thursday press conference with the University of Kentucky Police Department on the univers ity campus said about 20% of law enforcement in the state didn’t have usable body armor. The GOP-controlled legislature allocated $15 million to the attorney general in 2024 to start the program.  Coleman said the grant program has since provided more than 2,000 protective vests to law enforcement including 29 vests to the University of Kentucky Police Department. He said he’s asking the legislature for another $20 million over the two fiscal years to also buy law enforcement more protective equipment including shields, plates and helmets.  He said he wants future funding to protect school resource officers.  “What we’re talking about is the difference in coming home at night after a shift to your family members,” Coleman said. “Let’s make sure our school resource officers have the appropriate equipment to give them that force multiplier, that little bit of cover and concealment to protect our kids.”  Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue committee, said law enforcement safety is “not a one-time purchase but a recurring necessity.”  “That support was grounded in the simple belief that when we invest in officer safety, we get real results.” Mays Bledsoe said. “Our commitment to law enforcement cannot be temporary.”  The post Kentucky AG wants more body armor funding for law enforcement appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less