Benjamin D. Starkey

A current Lexington Police Department Detective, Ben is in his fourteenth year with the agency and his seventeenth year as an attorney.

He represents law enforcement officers during critical incident and officer-involved shooting investigations and defends lawsuits filed against police officers, such as excessive force, First Amendment retaliation, false arrest, torts, and illegal search and seizure. Prior to joining the Lexington Police Department, Ben was an Assistant Fayette County Attorney and Assistant Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney as a trial attorney.

With his agency, Ben served as a patrol officer and field training officer for three years before being chosen for the Bureau of Special Operations’ CLEAR Unit. While in that unit, Ben participated in proactive street level narcotics investigations, high crime area response, and lengthy investigations into organized crime involving street gangs involving both local and federal partners. While also in Special Operations, Ben served in the Downtown Entertainment District Unit providing general enforcement as well as community partnership building with local businesses and citizens to combat the issues facing the downtown area. Ben then received his detective’s badge when he was accepted to the Forensic Services Unit where he documents and assists in investigating crime scenes as well as the processing and collection of evidence. Ben has also been a KLEC certified legal instructor for ten years providing legal instruction to his agency and its training academy.

During law school, Ben served as an intern for the Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and Legal Aid of the Bluegrass.