State Police Proselytized during K9 Training at Ark Park; No Word on How Dogs Reacted
Back in 2020, the Kentucky State Police (KSP) were embroiled in a controversy after it was discovered that a training PowerPoint presentation quoted Adolf Hitler and advocated ruthless violence. In spite of this horrendous exception, the Kentucky State Police is well-respected and noted for their professionalism and devotion to duty. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the KSP paid Answers in Genesis (AIG) to send an officer on a K9 training class on February 1 to 4, 2025, at the Ark Encounter. Besides K9 training, the class included Fundamentalist Christian and Christian Nationalist propaganda. With the government agencies and politicians increasingly becoming entangled Christian Nationalism, this incident is particularly disturbing.
On February 7, 2025, Ken Ham bragged in his daily blog that the AIG Department of Public Safety had hosted numerous law enforcement organizations in K9 training at the Ark. Photos indicated a Kentucky State Police officer was there with his vehicle, as were several other regional law enforcement agencies. Moreover, an organization known as TACTICA Ministries (Teaching Authorities Christian Truth in Central America) was also present. My curiosity was immediately piqued by the presence of the KSP trooper. The questions I immediately had were, “Why is a major law enforcement organization being trained by AIG?” and “Why isn’t AIG going to a major organization like the KSP for training instead?”
I then wrote a Kentucky Open Records Act (KORA) request. Surprisingly, perhaps as a delaying tactic, my initial request was rejected. The rejection claimed I was not a Kentucky resident, even though I specifically said I was a resident in the KORA request. (I was born here and have owned a house which I have lived in in Lexington for more than 20 years. Many of my ancestors came to the state with Daniel Boone in the late 18th Century.) I resubmitted the request and received a small number of documents. Some of the requested information was not available; no mileage records were kept, and the KSP trooper did not save all of his training materials. Additional withheld information included the redaction of the identities of all third-party instructors “…due to sensitivity of their respective jobs and the need for anonymity.” Were these third-party instructors members of government law enforcement? We may never know.
The open records information showed that Kentucky taxpayers paid approximately $225 for the training of one officer. This doesn’t include money spent by other Kentucky law enforcement agencies. Kentucky law enforcement from Villa Hills Police Department and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office participated. Some out-of-state regional law enforcement that participated included the Genesee County Ohio, Twinsburg (Ohio) Police Department, and the Collier County (Florida) Sheriff’s Department.
The event included several breakfasts and lunches, as well as one diner that was sponsored by Nutramax Laboratories (a company that produces supplements for pets and does a lot of evangelism on the side). Interestingly, the event Welcome Package showed that each lunch included “testimony.”
The Welcome Package for the event also included a message from AIG’s Department of Public Safety’s Sgt. Adam Witherspoon:
Also, AIG Dept of Public Safety makes no effort to hide who we are. We care deeply about your working relationship with your dog and want to do everything we can to help you improve as a K9 team. More importantly though we care about you as an individual. God created all of us in His image. Due to our sin, and we are all sinners, Romans 3:23-24. 23.
...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24. being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; we are condemned to spend eternity separated from God. Jesus Christ however took our punishment on the Cross. Our most sincere prayer is that if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your savior, come and talk to us. We would love to share with you the Good News of the Gospel, which grants us eternity with God in heaven.
So, let’s get to some great training, enjoy some great food, fellowship, and learning, and I look forward to meeting and getting to know each one of you.
In His Service,
– Sgt Adam Witherspoon
A presentation at the K9 training (and a major vendor/sponsor) was by a Michigan-based TACTICA Ministries. This ministry apparently gives police/paramilitary training plus substantial religious instruction to police forces in Central and South American countries. Disturbingly, there are numerous YouTube videos available of TACTICA paramilitary training set to high energy Christian music (see: https://youtu.be/x7PKZ7_KA3w?feature=shared, https://youtu.be/SAwjK4QzLUM?si=xvhnvOajsXJ4X53I, and https://youtu.be/ZoHRcZ4SmP0?si=cowgfvsRRT4D-yqi). Figure 2 is a hat that TACTICA Ministries sells. Apparently, part of the TACTICA “training” at the event included memorization of Bible verses on a “Memorization Card.” What do any of these verses have to do with K9 training?
TACTICA Ministries is run by Ryan Rought. At least one presentation was done by Mr. Rought. The training documents give this biography and description of Rought’s work:
Ryan is a man fervently committed to his Christian faith, his family, and serving others. His energy is contagious as he is unashamedly committed to investing in the public safety community through high quality training, relationship building, and Gospel centered teaching.
Several other participants' biographies mention going on mission trips and long term training in with TACTICA Ministries, including Marty Buffenbarger (2.5 years with TACTICA in Costa Rica), Chris Carpenter of Livingston Security Solutions (several training mission trips), and Bill and Cindy Gruppen (also of Association of Baptists for World Evangelism). The Gruppens' bios indicate that their “mission is to share God's good news through creative and impactful avenues.”
According to the itinerary, a good deal of the first day of training (14:00 to 19:00) involved signing in and “roaming” the Ark. This visitation combined with the speakers' bios and other activities, such as lunchtime “testimonials” show that religious instruction and evangelism of law enforcement officers was a substantial portion of the K9 training.
There is some evidence that the KSP and other Kentucky law enforcement has participated in similar past events. On July 9, 2024, conservative Republican Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman posted pictures of “K9 Officer Charity” in front of the Ark Encounter. Officer Charity is a K9 with the Attorney General’s Office’s Department of Criminal Investigations. This sweet doggie has her own Instagram page. (The Attorney General’s post mentions that the KSP and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office participated in K9 training at the Ark in early July 2024. The instruction in February 2025 is probably one of several similar events that have used taxpayer money for an odd combination of training and evangelism.)
More disturbing than the use of taxpayer funding to evangelize law enforcement is the likelihood of the officers being indoctrinated in Christian Nationalism. Answers in Genesis is becoming more and more an advocate for far-right politics. On February 25, 2025, Founder CEO of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham, posted an essay on his blog titled “What Happens When Your God Dies.” In this political essay he attacks “wokeness,” “racist” DEI hiring, pronoun use, and transgender ideology while praising the new administration and attacking Democrats. This theme is common throughout AIG’s online publications.
On July 15, 2023, Bodie Hodge (Ken Ham’s son-in-law) had an essay on AIG’s page called “The Religion of Sexual Humanism” (you may now find it on the Wayback Machine here). In this post, Hodge claims what he and AIG represent is “God’s Religion” while most other people belong to “Not God’s Religion.” Note that “Not God’s Religion” has a sub-section “Counterfeits of Biblical Christianity” that includes Roman Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarians, “Moonies,” and even more bizarrely (if possible) Jews, Muslims, Freemasons, and Satanists (isn’t that special?) among many others. Eastern religions and secularism are given separate categories in this incredible (in the literal sense of the word) chart. I almost find this chart comical, but considering the very real possibility of Christian Nationalism becoming an arm of the government, the graphic is simply horrifying. AIG is very well-connected in state politics and apparently is looking to expand their reach. At one point Ken Ham was scheduled to speak at an event on April 24 along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Franklin Graham. Recently, Hegseth backed out, presumably because of other duties, but a list of the originally scheduled speakers is available on the Internet Wayback Machine as recently as January 17, 2025.
Every July the Tri-State Freethinkers have a protest near the entrance to Ark Encounter to protest the fake science plus the sales-tax rebate incentives and other handouts that the Ark has received from state, county, and Williamstown governments. I have avoided participating in this event in the past because of concerns about the event’s effectiveness and the possibility of a creationist provocateur causing a disruption. I was recently asked to speak at this event. I am frankly very hesitant. I have to wonder whether law enforcement will look the other way if the protest is attacked, actively disrupt the protest, or find another way of punishing or harassing the participants. In any case the government should not be paying to give their employees religious instruction especially when the employees are in a position where fairness and equanimity should be standard.