Feral Jundi

Rest in peace to the fallen. Brett was part of a very important effort in Afghanistan to train the Afghan police forces. He has paid the ultimate sacrifice and the US and Afghanistan both owe him and all contractors whom have paid the ultimate sacrifice in this war a tremendous amount of gratitude. My heart goes out to the friends and family… –Matt

Brett Benton

Kenton PD mourns loss of former sergeant

Jun. 6, 2011

By Brenna R. Kelly

No one wanted Brett Benton to leave the Kenton County Police Department.The well-liked officer had been there for 10 years, started the department’s K-9 program and had been promoted to sergeant.“He was one of the best and brightest that we have, no question about it,” said Chief Ed Butler. “He was the kind of police officer you like to have work for you as the chief.”But Benton had a plan.He and his wife of nearly nine years wanted to move to from their Dry Ridge home to Madison County.

“They are very family-oriented and still have a lot of family and friends down there,” Butler said. “They had gotten a little homesick and decided that they were going to move back to Richmond.”Benton didn’t want to make the move without some financial security. The couple would need to buy a house and Benton expected to make less money at a Central Kentucky department.One year working for a private defense contractor in Afghanistan training Afghan police officers would give him a new challenge and the money to make the move. He left the police department in May for the new job.After just three weeks in the country, Benton, 37, was killed Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle near Alingar District, Laghman Province, Afghanistan, according to a statement from his employer, DynCorp International.From Sept. 11, 2001 through March, 29 people working for DynCorp International have been killed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Fifty-six working for DynCorp Technical Services have died. In the same time, 763 people working for defense contractors in Afghanistan have died, according to the labor department.Benton knew the dangers, said his Kenton County colleagues, but he told them not to worry, that he would be in a compound.“Brett’s a very smart guy, he thought it out,” Butler said. “He laid the plan out for me, explained everything, he had given it quite a bit of thought.“It was well thought out, it just ended with tragic consequences,” he said.Benton joined the Kenton County department in 2001 after serving as a Nicholasville police officer, Kentucky State Police dispatcher, and soldier in the National Guard. In addition to the K-9 unit at Kenton County, Benton also worked in narcotics and had become a shift supervisor.He saw Afghanistan as his next challenge, said friend and co-worker Sgt. Larry Shelton.“He was excited about it,” he said. “I guess he thought he could make a difference.”Benton and Shelton became quick friends when they met 10 years ago.“He was just an outstanding friend,” Shelton said. “Anything I need, he’d give me the shirt off his back.”Recently the pair worked as sergeants on the same shift.“From a police standpoint or a friend standpoint he was a perfectionist,” he said. “That’s why you have so many people that knew him that are heartbroken, that’s just the type of person he was.”Off-duty the pair spent weekends at a lake and never missed University of Kentucky basketball and football games. When Benton’s deployment got pushed back three times, it gave the friends more excuses to hold going away parties.“When you heard him laugh, whether it was funny or not, you just started laughing,” he said.Shelton was upset his friend was moving away, whether it be to Richmond or Afghanistan.“He could have been moving to California and making $10 million a year and I still didn’t want him to go,” Shelton said. Shelton said he didn’t know how much Benton was going to make in Afghanistan, only that it was a little bit more than here. But there were tax advantages, he said.“I just assumed he’d be coming back,” he said.On Saturday, DynCorp contacted Kentucky State Police to notify Benton’s wife in Dry Ridge. But Bethany Benton, who works in accounting at UK had moved to Georgetown to stay with Benton’s brother and his wife while Brett Benton was in Afghanistan.State Police knew that Benton was a Kenton County officer so they notified Butler. Butler, Shelton and another officer took it upon themselves to go tell Bethany Benton her husband had been killed.“I knew I had to but in no way shape or form did I want to,” Shelton said. “I just pray for her every day.”Benton and Bethany were the perfect couple, he said.“You’ll never find a more complete couple,” he said. They doted on their three dogs – a Jack Russell terrier, a Weimaraner and a beagle mix.“Their dogs were their kids,” Shelton said. “Everywhere he went, they were with him, so there was going to be dog sitting in your lap.”In addition to his wife, Benton is also survived by his father, Skip Benton, a retired state trooper. Reached Monday Skip Benton said he was too distraught to talk about his son. Other survivors include his mother, Shirley Clark, stepfather, Danny Clark, stepmother, April Benton, brother, Shane, and sister, Gerrin Patton.Funeral arrangements are pending. But Kenton County Police have offered to do anything they can for the service, Butler said. Officers wore black bands around their badges Monday and flags across the county have been lowered to half-staff, Shelton said.“Anybody that met him, loved him,” he said. “That’s just who he was.”Story here.