Ron, who was also an Assistant Chief, decided to stay and continue to work towards those needed changes. I decided to retire from the Lexington Police Department at the position of Assistant Chief, after 27 years of service, to pursue another opportunity. His words encouraged me to continue my police career by moving up through the ranks. He told me that the best way to achieve change is to be on the inside instead of on the outside. It was Ron who encouraged me to participate in the promotional process. As he promoted through the ranks, I promoted as well. Ron was always easy to talk to and always willing to help.
Through our time together on the department, we quickly became friends. We are both graduates of Bryan Station High School, so right from the start we had a great deal in common. It will take a while to get it out of my system.”Ĭhief Weathers had this to say about Assistant Chief Compton:Ĭhief Ron Compton and I joined Lexington Police in 1989. “I’ll really miss the people, and I’ll miss the work, to some extent. “I’m very appreciative I’ve been able to work for Lexington Police as long as I have,” Compton said. Even with more than 30 years of service under his belt, Compton doesn’t want to be completely retired, and he’s looking forward to a new career opportunity. When he isn’t working, Compton enjoys fishing and spending time with his family. Take care of business that you need to take care of, but have fun with it.” If you respect what the badge stands for, you’ll be fine in this job. “What I tell everybody when we meet with the rookies, is to respect the badge, understand what the badge stands for. He also thinks it’s important not to take oneself too seriously. Compton said focusing on work to help people made those difficult incidents easier to deal with. While there was rarely a day when Compton didn’t love coming to work, there were many days with challenging and emotionally draining calls. “The calls are essentially still the same. There’s better technology and more paperwork, but Compton thinks the bulk of the everyday job of a police officer has remained unchanged over the years.
COMPTON FIRE BADGE PORTABLE
And if you didn’t get there early enough, you didn’t get a portable radio because there wasn’t enough to go around.” “When I was a rookie officer, you had to get to roll call early because we didn’t have take-home portable radios. Over the past the 30 years, many things have changed at Lexington Police, especially the equipment and technology. “Nobody can change things and make things better but us. That motivation was shared with Lawrence Weathers, setting a path for his own leadership journey. Stephen Stanley with encouraging him to work through the promotional process. I was pretty proud of that.”Ĭompton credits Sgt. “Just the fact that you get to represent your community and the Commonwealth and your country, in certain cases. I always thought that was pretty cool,” Compton recalled. At the trial, the prosecutor was asked, ‘Who represents the United States?’ It got to do a lot of things in BOI that most people don’t get to experience.”Ĭompton said a narcotics case that went to federal court was particularly memorable. “I always enjoyed Patrol, but BOI is where I always felt most comfortable. He served as Interim Chief prior to the appointment of Chief Lawrence Weathers, his police academy classmate, in 2018.
As Assistant Chief, Compton oversaw the bureaus of Patrol, Administration, and Investigation. His assignments included Patrol, the Pattern Impact Unit, Narcotics, Drug Court, the Larceny Crimes Unit, Internal Affairs, the Property Crimes Section, E-911, and he even served as a public information officer. I’ve just been pretty fortunate.”Ĭompton has served at every rank in both Patrol and the Bureau of Investigation (BOI). I don’t think I’ve had three bad days in a year, let alone three consecutive bad days. “You know, people say if they have three bad days in a row at a job, they’ll leave. I had barely turned 23 when I started this job and I don’t know anything else. “I like it as much now as I did the day I started. On January 3, 2021, Compton retired as an Assistant Chief. I knew Lexington and didn’t really want to leave. “Lexington Police was the only department I applied to,” Compton said. When he graduated from EKU with a degree in Police Administration, there was only one place Compton wanted to work.
In a recent interview, Compton said the class opened his eyes to a career that would be interesting, challenging, and not something that everybody could do. I didn’t know that until I was probably 20 years old.”
“I never grew up wanting to be a police officer. Ronald Compton was majoring in chemistry and biology at Eastern Kentucky University when an elective class about law enforcement changed both his major and the course of his life.
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