To the editor:

In 2005, a “resource plan” for the Lawrence Police Department was completed to ensure that future police budgets were tied directly to community outcomes. One of the five-year objectives committed to by the Lawrence Police Department in the resource plan was that the clearance rate for major crimes in the city would be maintained at baseline. Yet, in the 2008 budget, there is no mention of this plan or this objective.

Since 2005, the residents of this community have been asked to fund nearly $3 million in budget increases for the police department. We continue to buy squad cars; this year alone, Chief Ron Olin wants nearly $600,000 for 10 more cars.

Yet the department’s accountability to measurable community outcomes is not addressed in the budget process. This year, Lawrence has seen marked increases in robbery, home invasion, theft and violent crime. We seem to be paying for new squad cars and more police officers that spend most of their time manning speed traps and generating revenue in the form of traffic citations. What we don’t seem to be getting is a police force that is actively engaged in community policing, criminal investigation and crime prevention.

To whom is this police department accountable? Before it grants the department’s budget request, the commission owes it to the residents and taxpayers of this community to ensure that the department’s budget request is tied to measurable community outcomes, as promised.

Laura Routh,

Lawrence