Lawrence isn’t the only place where police policies have gotten some attention recently.

A police chase that was broken off just before the car being pursued was involved in a fatal collision Aug. 26 has caused local residents and officials to question the policies of the Lawrence Police Department on chases. In Hutchinson, a high-profile murder case has focused attention on how police officers respond at crime scenes that involve potentially fatal injuries.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Aug. 26, a call came into the Hutchinson police dispatcher from the son of Dr. Robert Stafford, 61. The son told police a shooting had taken place at Stafford’s office.

When police arrived at the office, they observed Stafford lying on the floor, bleeding, but because they feared the assailant might still be in the building, they waited 33 minutes — yes, 33 minutes — for a special operations team to arrive on the scene.

Police say they believe Stafford was dead when the first officers arrived, but they and the people of Hutchinson will never know. The evidence is that Stafford’s wife, who shot herself to death the next day before she could be questioned, shot her husband some time between 7 p.m. and when the call was received at 9:12 p.m. that day. Perhaps the wounds were immediately fatal, but what if they weren’t? Thirty-three minutes is a long time to delay treatment for a shooting victim.

Hutchinson residents probably understand the desire not to risk the first officers by sending them into the building, but waiting 33 minutes for additional officers to arrive could, in some cases, be a matter of life or death. It would seem that some provision needs to be made to offer additional training to the first-responders or reduce the response time for back-up officers.

Whether it’s a vehicle chase or a murder investigation, being a police officer isn’t an easy job, but the public has a right to understand why certain decisions were made and demand that some policies — especially those that can make the difference between life and death — be re-examined.