The Kentucky State Police post in Graves County will dedicate a memorial next week for two troopers who died last year in the line of duty.
Trooper Eric Chrisman died in a crash last June while responding to a reckless driving complaint. Trooper Cameron Ponder was shot less than three months later, after a traffic stop on Interstate 24. Both were based at Post 1 in Hickory.
Calloway County’s Back the Badge effort raised $2,000 for the bronze and granite marker. Back the Badge leader Mitch McClain says his group wanted to show support for law enforcement officers after last year’s tragedies.
“We really wanted to do something and this is what KSP Post 1, what they wanted, and we thought it’d be good for the families," McClain said. "Hopefully we never have to add any other names, but in the event that we do, it will be there as well.”
Since its inception last year, Back the Badge has also donated $1,800 in digital camera equipment to the Calloway County Sheriff's Office.
The memorial dedication takes place at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon at Post 1, with public parking across the street at Community Fellowship Baptist Church.
