Bardstown Police Department is dedicated to making the City of Bardstown a safe community to live in and a great place to call home.
The Bardstown Police Department is a progressive department dedicated to making the City of Bardstown a safe community to live in and a great place to call home.
A Brief History of the
Bardstown Police Department
Though Bardstown is Kentucky’s second oldest city, the police department only dates back to 1824. Prior to this, like most towns in Kentucky, law enforcement fell to the local sheriff and his deputies to maintain order. In May 1824 the town was protected by a patrol of twelve men who were organized into two platoons of six; six patrolled from “twlight” to 1:00AM and six men from 1:00 AM to 6:00 AM. There is no record of salary, therefore concluding that the “patrol” group consisted of volunteers who were concerned with law and order within the city limits. In the 1850’s a town marshal was approved and appointed with the duties of enforcing town ordinances and maintaining peace.
Records indicate that several different men served in this capacity, but due to the increase in distilleries, none were successful in their attempts. The consumption of alcohol by the young men of Bardstown led to violence and disorderly conduct. The “town fathers” of Bardstown had appointed several town marshals to “run things in a more quiet and harmless way”, but gave up and appointed George Hunter, who would strictly enforce the laws. George W. Hunter’s life is a book written by his grandson; “George W. Hunter; The Daring Lawman of Nelson County, KY” by Wood E. Hunter, Sr. Marshal Hunter was sworn in January 14, 1868 and was given a yearly salary of $600.00. George Hunter served two different terms as town marshal (1868-1872; 1877-1880). He also was a deputy sheriff and a deputy U.S. marshal.
In 1863 four men were officially listed as “City Watch” and were paid $20.00 a month to patrol the streets of Bardstown. In the December 13th, 1865 minutes, a “police force of six men are hereby appointed” leading to the first fulltime, paid police force that has continued to grow and today, has 30 employees; an authorized strength of 27 officers and 3 civilians who proudly serve the people and community of Bardstown.
This is the official Facebook page of the Bardstown Police Department. Page is not monitored continuously, call 911 for police service.
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Welcome to the Bardstown Police Department’s Official page on Facebook! The purpose of this site is to present matters of public interest concerning theBardstown Police Department’s programs, activities, news stories, and photos. We welcome your comments, however, please note this is a moderated online discussion site and not a public forum.
If you need an official source of information about the Bardstown Police Department please visit our website at www.bardstownpolice.com
Comments made by the public to our page will be reviewed, and while comments will not be edited by our personnel, the Department reserves the right to remove comments that include:
• Comments unrelated to the purpose and topical scope of the page. The page is not meant for comments that do not directly relate to the purpose or topical scope of the page.
• Obscenity.
• Child pornography.
• Incitement to imminent lawless action.
• Speech presenting a grave and imminent threat.
• Fighting words.
• True threats.
• Fraud.
• Defamation (libel/slander)
• Solicitations to commit. or speech integral to, criminal conduct.
• Promotion or advertisement of a business or commercial transaction.
• Promotion in favor of, or in opposition to, a candidate campaigning for election to a political office.
• Copyrighted material (if posted without the copyright holder’s consent).
The Department may take steps to have a comment removed if it falls within one of the foregoing categories.
Also, please keep in mind that this is an internet page on facebook.com. Facebook, Inc. owns and operates facebook.com. It has its own policies and standards concerning what may, and may not, be posted and the actions that it may take with regard to unauthorized posts. See “Facebook Community Standards” at www.facebook.com/communitystandards/.
The department may also take steps to remove “robo spam” and/or comments by “social bots” (i.e. content posted by automatic software programs, or “bots”) if necessary to ensure access for the general public.
Furthermore, while we encourage debate and discussion, we respectfully request that commenters be mindful that this site is open to the public and that commenters be courteous and civil toward one another.
The Department is not responsible for, and neither endorses nor opposes, comments placed on this site by visitors to this site. Commenters are personally responsible for their own comments, username, and/or any information placed on this page by the commenter.
Please do not report emergencies, or ask for assistance on this page. For police service call 911.
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The Bardstown Police Department is committed to providing the highest quality of police and public safety to the citizens of Bardstown and its guests. We will strive to accomplish this by maintaining a workforce of highly skilled personnel dedicated to the highest standards of performance with the goal of improving the quality of life for the whole community while maintaining respect for individual rights and human dignity.
