photo by: Mike Yoder

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured Thursday, July 7, 2016.

Amid a nationwide reckoning with police brutality and the role of police in communities, city leaders will soon review the findings of a recently completed study of the Lawrence police department and recommended changes to its operations.

As part of a special meeting Tuesday, consultants with Citygate Associates will present the findings of the police department study to the City Commission and the public. The commission called for the study and subsequent report following national and local protests against police killings of Black people and other people of color, and calls for reallocation of some police duties. The subsequent report includes 75 recommendations across various categories, including race-related issues and community engagement, handling of complaints against police, and alternative responses to policing.

The 132-page report includes 60 findings and 75 recommendations covering various areas, including community engagement, the complaint process, the Community Police Review Board, mental health and homelessness, patrol, investigations, training, recruitment and hiring, among other categories. Citygate identifies four core challenges: community engagement, which identified unequal experiences with police based on race and other factors; officer conduct and the Community Police Review Board; alternative response systems; and training and succession planning.

In Citygate presentation materials for Tuesday’s meeting, consultants highlighted some key findings, including that the department must become “much more transparent,” that it lacks community and partner-based policing solutions, and that there is a strong need to increase field supervision, quality oversight and tracking of complaints against police.

In the community engagement category, consultants state there was a “near universal disconnect” with all racial and ethnic groups. In listening sessions, the report states that most participants shared stories of prompt arrival, professional service and polite communication; however, the experiences shared by people of color and other marginalized groups were very different.

“The quality and nature of these experiences seemed to vary based on race, ethnicity, and gender,” the report states. “While most white residents said their experiences had been positive, every African American, except for one female, said their experience had not been positive.”

African Americans shared stories of unwarranted traffic stops, unprovoked harsh behavior and unjustified arrests. White and African American participants also expressed concern about the department’s lack of diversity, and Native American participants shared interactions that highlighted limited knowledge of their culture in general and a need for cultural competency. Consultants emphasized that those concerns occurred in almost every interview and represented almost the opposite of the feedback police department personnel provided to consultants.

The consultants found that the department does not “deeply enough embrace” best practices in community policing, engagement in individual interactions and partnerships with stakeholders. The report states doing so will require education, training and new methods of policing. Citygate provides 10 recommendations, including increasing cultural competency and implicit bias training; expanding and modifying recruitment to attract more diverse applicants; and creating and prioritizing opportunities for officers to meet with residents, among other recommendations.

In their recommendations, consultants state there needs to be an emphasis on education and training to address race and cultural divides and build trust with communities of color. That includes training that discusses police treatment of minorities in the U.S. and abroad, “highlighting the enduring impact of policing under Jim Crow laws and during the Civil Rights movement.” Consultants recommend this and other “procedural justice” training concepts should be institutionalized in general orders, performance evaluations and promotional processes.

Regarding officer conduct and the Community Police Review Board, consultants found there was a lack of formal internal systems for tracking complaints against police. Other issues included many informal complaint resolutions and a need for a “much clearer and robust complaint process.” In the listening sessions, none of the community members who reported negative encounters with police had filed a complaint, and many said they lacked confidence in the department to investigate its own officers or their stories would not have been believed given their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Consultants also found the department has a low number of investigated internal affairs complaints for a department of its size.

Regarding the Community Police Review Board, consultants state that there is significant mistrust and tension on both sides over the review board and how to provide community oversight of police conduct and complaints. The board has been working on a new ordinance that increases its oversight and review powers, but consultants recommend in part that a working group of key stakeholders be created to design a “best-practices-based system.”

When it comes to providing emergency responses other than police response, consultants state that alternative response strategies will require operational partnerships with county agencies, health care providers and nonprofits. They note that the partnerships in existence are more informal, without strategic, funding and governance plans or written agreements. They recommend in part that the city and police department expand the mental health co-responder partnership with Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, invest in the mobile crisis response program and provide officers with a firm knowledge of local social service providers so they can make informed referrals without defaulting to arrest.

In its assessment of the department, consultants requested “extensive” documents from the department, reviewed incident data, interviewed city and department officials, held community listening sessions and interviewed county and nonprofit health partners, among other input. A city staff memo states that the report is considered a final draft but the consultant will consider commissioner and public feedback in response to the presentation, which may result in revisions to improve clarity or consistency in the report prior to the commission’s final acceptance at a later date.

The City Commission will convene virtually at 6 p.m. Tuesday with limited staff in place at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. The city has asked that residents participate in the meeting virtually if they are able to do so. A link to register for the Zoom meeting and directions to submit written public comment are included in the agenda that is available on the city’s website, lawrenceks.org.