photo by: Journal-World photo illustration

“What suggestions do you have for improving the approachability of (Lawrence Police Department) officers?”

“Do you think that the LKPD is biased against you and people you know?”

“Where do you get your information about LKPD activities?”

“What qualities would make someone an ideal police officer?”

Those are a few of the questions in an online survey to learn more about residents’ interactions with, opinions of and suggestions for the Lawrence Police Department. The city commissioned an outside firm to administer the survey and conduct related consulting work.

The survey opened Aug. 7 and runs until Sept. 15 at surveymonkey.com/r/X5TH3NV. It takes an estimated 10 minutes to complete, or 20 for participants who choose to share additional comments.

A major goal is reaching people who may not feel comfortable proactively contacting the city with feedback but who have things to share, interim city communications director Porter Arneill said.

“Here’s an opportunity where they can, in an anonymous way,” Arneill said.

In addition to questions about police interactions and opinions, the survey also asks for optional demographic information, including race, gender and religious affiliation.

Beth Clark, president of Allegro Training & Consulting, the firm conducting the survey, emphasized that the survey is confidential and anonymous. She said Allegro would not publish any data or comments that could identify an individual, but rather look for patterns and report survey results in a summary format.

The city commissioned the survey as one part of a larger review process of the Lawrence Police Department, all conducted by Allegro, Arneill said. The city’s contract with Allegro is for $20,000, which is coming out of the police department’s budget, he said.

Allegro’s review of the police department included one-on-one interviews, focus groups and surveys with department employees, Arneill said. He said those efforts focused on multicultural hiring, multicultural employee development and multicultural community engagement and safety.

The police department stepped away from the citizen survey portion of Allegro’s work, and will only have access to summaries and recommendations from the survey, not anyone’s individual answers.

“The city is taking over the external effort so that the police are not directly involved, and that’s very intentional,” Arneill said.

Recently retired police Chief Tarik Khatib initiated the overall review effort with Allegro in late 2016, Arneill said.

The plan is for survey results and ensuing recommendations from Allegro to inform strategic planning for the police department, but with the city in between police chiefs, no dates for that have been set, Arneill said.

The next police chief, Gregory Burns Jr. of the Louisville Police Department, is scheduled to start in October.