Their lack of support for additional study of police facility needs seems to imply that the Lawrence police chief and three city commissioners are satisfied to pursue essentially the same police headquarters plan that local voters rejected last year.

They may find a different location for the building, and they probably will try to find a way to finance the project that won’t require voter approval, but judging by the discussion at Tuesday’s Lawrence City Commission meeting, they seem to agree that the plan to build a single $28 million police headquarters is sound and isn’t worthy of any additional consideration. Only two commissioners — Leslie Soden and Stuart Boley — spoke in favor of appointing an ad hoc committee to take a broader look at police operations and staffing and see how those factors might impact planning for new department facilities.

There is no disagreement among commissioners or police officials that improved facilities are needed. In fact, many Lawrence residents who voted last November against the sales tax proposal to fund the police headquarters said they agreed improvements were needed, but, for a variety of reasons, they didn’t like the plan that was presented. On Tuesday, Chief Tarik Khatib blamed the election defeat on the fact that voters were upset with spending decisions made by the previous City Commission. That might have been one factor, but that doesn’t mean having a new commission move forward with essentially the same plan will make local taxpayers happy. Some voters didn’t like the proposed location or the overall price tag for the headquarters building. Still others were concerned with the lack of process to determine possible improvements to police operations that could be facilitated by the new headquarters building.

Khatib also said he remains firmly convinced that a single, new facility — not several smaller facilities scattered around town — is the best option for Lawrence. Unfortunately, the chief isn’t the only person who should be convinced of that conclusion, and officials haven’t done a very good job of explaining how department leaders and their consultants arrived at that and other assumptions about the headquarters plan. Did they study what other departments are doing or quantify how local operations would be improved by a central headquarters, or did they just look at how much space they needed or wanted?

It’s understandable that the chief wants to have better facilities as soon as possible, but planning a new police headquarters is an opportunity not only to have a new building but also to take a look at how the Lawrence police operate and how they might operate better. Police departments across the nation are taking a second look at their overall approach to policing. Khatib himself ordered his officers to read the U.S. Department of Justice report on events in Ferguson, Mo. Is there nothing in that report that might suggest adjustments for Lawrence police operations that should be considered in the planning of a new headquarters?

“I don’t know what kicking this issue around more is going to do,” Khatib said Tuesday night. Maybe nothing, or maybe having an ad hoc committee take a broad look at police facilities and operations will lead to a facilities plan that is more innovative, more focused on police operations, more economical and more acceptable to local taxpayers. It’s worth a try.