KU SOCCER HOLDS OFF MIZZOU IN OVERTIME VICTORY. 1C BERNIE SANDERS: PEOPLE ARE ‘VERY FRIGHTENED’ OF TRUMP.
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Suicide prevention hotline may face closure
2015 BENCHMARK SURVEY: Key findings on the Lawrence Police Department’s budget, clearance rates and more released in annual report BY CONRAD SWANSON
• • •
LPD takes smaller chunk of city’s budget, spends less on training than others
T
he Lawrence Police Department takes a smaller chunk of the city’s budget each year when compared to dozens of other police departments across the country. The department also employs more officers per resident, but spends far less on training than other departments. Those are among some of the key findings about the Lawrence Police Department’s structure and financing, according to a new report. Each year the City of Overland Park releases its Benchmark Cities Survey comparing a group of 30 police departments across the country in an effort to keep tabs on industry standards. Lawrence Police Chief Tarik Khatib said the department has participated in the survey since 2010 and the annual report can be one of several useful tools for comparing LPD to other, similar departments. “It’s not the end-all. These are 30 different agencies across the United States; of course there are 17,000 law enforcement agencies,” he said. “I think it’s a general guide and you shouldn’t read too much into any one number, but just take a broad look.” Examining police
cswanson@ljworld.com
Some takeaways from the survey:
2011
2015
Violent crime rate per 1,000 citizens:
4.2
department budgets as a whole, LPD used 21.2 of Lawrence’s 2015 budget, the survey says. This is below the average of 28.3 percent. “So you get lots of bang for your buck,” Khatib joked. Translated to a dollar amount, LPD’s budget in 2015 was $17.4 million, while the city’s general expenditure budget was $81.9 million, the survey says. Over the past five years, the majority of police departments participating in the survey decreased their percentage take of the city’s budget, the survey says. But Lawrence ran counter to that trend. The Lawrence Police Department was among the 25 percent that saw its percentage of the city’s overall budget increase. Khatib said LPD’s small percentage increase over the past five years is more an indication of minor budget changes than it is an indication the department is taking more of the city’s money. Those budget changes are something Khatib said the Lawrence City Commission has been addressing for some time. “The city has money in all kinds of different
By Elvyn Jones ejones@ljworld.com
2.4
Headquarters Counseling Center has started a Save Headquarters campaign with the goal of raising $90,000 in the next three weeks so that it can continue to provide its current level of suicide prevention services beyond the end of the year. Headquarters provides local and statewide suicide prevention hotlines and offers training and consultation services in Lawrence and other Kansas communities, said Andy Brown, Headquarters executive director. However, what the agency’s board is calling a state of emergency is threatening Headquarters’ ability to continue that work past Dec. 31. The agency’s board set the goal of raising $90,000 by Dec. 5. A failure to do so could mean scaling back Headquarters’ current 24hour crisis phone line operation > HOTLINE, 2A
Rape offenses per 1,000 citizens:
.47
.62
LPD’s total clearance rate:
11.2%
24.4%
— Source: City of Overland Park’s 2015 Benchmark Cities Survey
About the survey The Benchmark Cities Survey by the city of Overland Park measures the police departments of 30 small-to-mid-size cities across the country. Cities ranged in size from the approximately 285,000 in Henderson, Nev., to the approximately 87,000 in Boca Raton, Fla. The survey does include other Midwest university communities. In addition to Lawrence, the survey includes Boulder, Colo.; Norman, Okla.; Columbia, Mo.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Fort Collins, Colo. Of the cities included in the report, Lawrence is the third least populous and the sixth smallest, counting a total of 97,193 residents within 34.9 square miles, the survey says.
Police chief shares takeaway notes on benchmark survey The number of crimes being committed in Lawrence is going down and the number of crimes being solved by police is going up, but oftentimes Lawrence still trails other communities in those key categories, according to the latest figures from a benchmark
> LPD, 6A
PUBLISHED SINCE 1891
survey for the industry. The survey, compiled by the city of Overland Park, compares the Lawrence Police Department with 29 other departments from midsize cities across the country, as explained above.
> STATS, 6A
School board to hear report on rollout of new science standards By Joanna Hlavacek jhlavacek@ljworld.com
Today the Lawrence school board will hear a report on the implementation of Students statewide Next Generation Sci- are seeing the ence Standards in ‘why’ behind local schools. the science The standards, adopted as opposed to by the Kansas ‘memorize this State Board of formula and Education in apply it.’” 2013, aim to provide students — Terry McEwen of with a deeper Lawrence Public Schools understanding of science and engineering, often through a more hands-on approach
‘‘
> SCIENCE, 2A
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