To the editor:

Police Chief Ron Olin’s statement that the recent victim of a police shooting received “the outcome she desired” should send a chill through every resident in this community. Further chilling is the news that the deputy director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has publicly stated that the Lawrence Police Department will be allowed to lead its own investigation into the case. Indeed, City Commissioner Sue Hack’s statement that she is confident the matter has been handled appropriately seems to me to be premature, given that her statement was made less than 48 hours after this tragic incident occurred.

I don’t think officials should be making these kinds of statements, or declaring the matter resolved, until an investigation is conducted and an unbiased report is released.

I am not saying the Lawrence Police Department did anything wrong in this case. I am saying that if they wish for their actions to be perceived by the community as acceptable, police and city officials must exercise prudence and withhold judgment until outside scrutiny is applied.

Regardless of how faultless the LPD may be, it is neither appropriate nor wise for them to conduct an investigation into their own department. It weakens their overall credibility and brings into question the legitimacy of the investigation.

To appropriately address this sort of tragedy, and perhaps prevent future occurrences, Lawrence needs a community-based police review board and some semblance of emergency psychiatric care, other than police intervention at the barrel of a gun.

Laura Routh,

Lawrence