Prestonsburg Police Dept. Receives Grant to Purchase Safety Equipment

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

PRESTONSBURG —Spirit of the Blue Foundation’s 2022 Trooper Cameron Ponder Memorial Grant in the amount of $16,175.46, was presented to Prestonsburg Police Chief Ross Shurtleff by Brenda Tiffany to be used for the purchase of much needed vests and helmets.

Ponder was gunned down trying to make a 3 am arrest of a fleeing individual in September 2015 after only nine months on the job at Kentucky State Police Mayfield Post, a release on Prestonsburg Police Department’s Facebook said, adding that Brenda, is Ponder’s mom.

Today, Tiffany makes it her life’s work to travel around the Commonwealth and support families and agencies of fallen officers, the release said.

Following the June 30, 2022 shooting in the Allen community of Floyd County, Tiffany has been a regular contact with the Prestonsburg Police Department and selected them as the recipient of her son’s memorial grant.

“This grant is paramount in supporting our goal to build a safety net of personal protective equipment that will help maintain every possible avenue of safety for our officers,” the Prestonsburg Police Department said. “We are beyond thankful for this project, which wouldn’t be possible without the Spirit of Blue Foundation, which you can support and learn more about at https://www.spiritofblue.com/.”