Lawrence Police Department

No racial profiling complaints have been submitted against the Lawrence Police Department recently, police said Monday at a citizen review board meeting.

The Citizens’ Advisory Board for Fair and Impartial Policing meets once every other month at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., to touch base with representatives from the Lawrence Police Department.

At each meeting, the board receives any incoming racial profiling complaints and any use-of-force reports, which are submitted when officers deploy their Tasers.

Lawrence Police Capt. Trent McKinley told the board Monday night no new racial profiling complaints have been submitted since the board’s last meeting in June.

When a complaint is submitted, either to the police department or through the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, it is reviewed by the department’s internal Office of Professional Accountability. Afterwards, the internal investigation’s findings are passed along to the board for further review.

At the June meeting, the board learned of two complaints filed against the department, McKinley said. The first was submitted in April and after an internal investigation within the department, it was determined to be unfounded. The second complaint was submitted in June through the Kansas Attorney General’s Office. That complaint remains under investigation, he said.

McKinley said he did not have a clear timeline for when the Attorney General’s Office would finish their investigation. Available information regarding the complaint is limited, he said.

Since the June meeting, only one Lawrence police officer deployed a Taser against someone who was resisting arrest, McKinley said. However, as of Monday the incident was still under investigation by the department and was not ready for review by the board.

“Slow month, I guess,” said Board Chair Baha Safadi.

“That’s good,” laughed McKinley.

With four members of the public attending the meeting, the board then discussed entering into the realm of social media to increase their visibility within the community.

Board Member Adrian Jones said he would look into the creation of a unique website for the board to increase community involvement and to act as an outlet for any new information.

Racial profiling complaints can be submitted to the police department at police.lawrenceks.org or the Kansas Attorney General’s Office at ag.ks.gov.

The board will meet next at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19. Meetings are open to the public.