Lawrence Reporter

The Community Police Oversight Work Group will hold its first meeting from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, May 22, in the Jayhawk Room at Fire Station #5, 1911 Stewart Avenue. Interested community members can also join the meeting virtually via Zoom(advanced registration is required). At this meeting, the group will outline its work and begin planning for Community Conversations to be held this summer.

The Work Group will meet a total of eight times before the end of August, including six work sessions and two larger-scale Community Conversations. All meetings will be held in-person and are open to the public.

The Community Conversations will be hosted by the Work Group and focused solely on public input and ideas to inform the efforts and recommendations of the Work Group. The six working meetings, including the upcoming meeting on May 22, will not include public comment but will provide opportunities for the public to provide written feedback relevant to the Work Group’s tasks at that time. Work Group draft documents and related resources will be available soon on the City website so the public can track Work Group progress and see next steps in the process.

The City has contracted with Jonathan Morris of J Morris Consulting to provide facilitation services to support the efforts of the Work Group.

The Work Group was formed in 2022 to review and make recommendations related to the process in which complaints against law enforcement officers are addressed. The Work Group is also tasked with making recommendations to the City Commission to enhance community police oversight and relations. The Work Group has encountered a number of challenges with appointments to the work group, which resulted in a delayed start.

The first three Work Group meeting dates are May 22, June 5 and July 10. Additional meeting dates and details regarding the Community Conversations will be available in the coming weeks.  Additional information about the workgroup, including a list of the members of the workgroup, can be found here.

Contact: City Communications, citycommunications@lawrenceks.org

Original source can be found here.