The timing of proposed raises for Lawrence police officers is a little off.

Tonight, Lawrence city commissioners will consider approving salary increases for police officers and firefighters that are substantially higher than the raises received this year by other local workers in either the public or private sector. Before approving such raises, it would be nice to have a pretty good idea they are well-deserved.

An audit of the Lawrence Police Department, which has been under way for two years now, could help verify that fact. Unfortunately, commissioners learned last week that the audit won’t be completed until October. The city’s auditor said the police department was cooperating fully with the audit, but work had been pushed back because of several other audits that took priority.

In the meantime, both police officials and city commissioners are saying it’s important to keep local salaries high to prevent trained officers from pursuing job opportunities in other cities. That’s a valid point, but it also could be applied to other employee groups, including Lawrence school teachers, who received no merit increases this year.

Police and firefighters certainly provide a valuable service to the community — at far greater personal risk than many other employees. There’s no reason to think the police department audit will reveal any drastic problems, but it’s impossible to know until the audit is complete.

Rather than using salary increases to reward the police department for good performance in a city audit, commissioners appear ready to approve the raises before results of the audit are known. We can only hope the audit doesn’t reveal anything that makes them regret that decision.