THE CEREMONY began with BGPD Honor Guard presenting the colors as a trumpeter played the National Anthem on June 2, 2023.
Deputy Chief Penny Bowles emceed the event and told attendees in 200 years, the police department has been served by only 19 police chiefs before calling to the podium the City’s 19th Police Chief Michael Delaney.
Delaney first recognized all of the department’s retirees in attendance thanking them for their service.
He acknowledged the City’s status as the fastest growing city in Kentucky and attributed that growth to the safety of the city.
“[People] want to come to Bowling Green. They want to bring their families. They want to bring their friends because they feel safe,” he said.
“Some things have changed over the last 200 years but our commitment to service, integrity, and respect has remained steadfast,” Delaney said.
Retired BGPD Sgt. Shane West, the department’s historian, provided a glimpse into the history of the department beginning in 1823 with part-time officers, who were called watchmen, to the present day officers serving Bowling Green’s 42 square miles of city limits.
State Rep. Kevin Jackson presented the department with a legislative citation.
“No community will continue to grow and prosper if its citizens don’t feel safe,” Jackson said.
“Chief Delaney it’s my honor, on behalf of the Kentucky House of Representatives, to present you and the Bowling Green Police Department with a Legislative Citation for 200 years of service to the Bowling Green Community. Chief thank you, and may God bless you, and the men and women who wear the blue,” he said.
Mayor Todd Alcott, flanked by Commissioners Dana Beasley-Brown, Melinda Hill, and Sue Parrigin closed out the ceremony with a Proclamation reading recognizing the police department’s bicentennial.GN
