By Tarik Khatib

Lawrence Chief of Police

One of the tasks of a leader of any organization is to look at how prepared it is to accomplish the mission expected of it. As a Lawrence resident for 29 years and a member of the Lawrence Police Department for 23 of those, I have an appreciation for what I believe is the expectation of police in Lawrence. The culmination of historical input of residents, city leaders and officers who have gone before us makes us all shareholders in the definition of this expectation.

Lawrence is a major university town with a population that is active, involved and constantly mobile. We are a center for sporting, cultural and entertainment events. This activity extends into all hours of the night and draws individuals from the region as well. To support this way of life, we have high expectations of government service including the police.

The department has spent the last four years examining resources that are available to meet these expectations. What was found has been shared through public venues such as the media, community presentations, city commission study sessions and annual budget processes. It is important to note that this examination was undertaken in the context of what is expected of the department.

Service level expectations define the amount of resources (number of officers, equipment and facilities) needed to meet them. For example, to understand whether a certain number of officers per population is adequate, you have to ask what citizens are asking those officers to do. Bedroom communities off the beaten path and cities asking less of their police force can “get by” with a much lower officer-to-population ratio. Likewise, community desire for transparency provided by video cameras in police cars or access to information on the department’s website necessitates a certain level of equipment and personnel to accomplish. The department has the obligation to be as efficient and effective as possible within the set of available resources.

The department has added needed equipment and some additional personnel. Officers have also been shifted from other areas to continue to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. This includes reassigning two school resource officers and six traffic safety unit officers back on patrol to bolster the personnel numbers there, implementing a team-based approach and restructuring the patrol division to ensure we have the most officers working during the statistically busiest times, adopting Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety principles to guide resource allocation and assigning detectives to work the evening hours to more quickly respond to crimes.

And we are being successful; the seven solved homicides in the last year are a case in point. However, Lawrence remains a very active place and additional efficiencies and personnel are needed to continue to prevent, respond to and solve crimes as well as meet the other service requests. These goals are not attainable without addressing the facility needs of the department.

The city of Lawrence has grown significantly since 1976 when the original downtown Judicial and Law Enforcement Center (LEC) was built and occupied, in part, by the Lawrence Police Department. As the department grew to meet the service needs of the community, it outgrew its space at the LEC. Over the past 38 years, personnel, equipment and evidence have been dispersed across six different geographical locations within the city and a seventh location in the county that is utilized for firearms and other training. When we look at the data and information (http://police.lawrenceks.org) examining the current facilities, it becomes apparent that none of the existing facilities are effectively meeting community and department needs and they are not capable of being reasonably upgraded.

Building a police facility is not about addressing one particular defect, but rather looking at the system as a whole — the wide range of facility associated issues — and ensuring facilities police use to accomplish their community defined mission are modern, safe, accessible, and up to the task. Facility needs have become the overarching impediment to efficiency, preparedness, and the ability of the department to meet current and future community service needs. This is why I have recommended to the Lawrence City Commission that this is the highest priority for the department at this time.

On Nov. 4, voters will be provided an opportunity to approve a two-tenths of 1 percent citywide sales tax for the purpose of constructing and equipping a new police facility.