Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Police Department

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Tarik Khatib, Chief of Police
CC:	Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
	Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager
	Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager
DATE:	March 23, 2015 – Updated 04/20/15
RE:	Top Department Issues

Background

It is important to remember that the overarching goal for the Lawrence Police Department’s resource requests has been to be match resources with expected community service levels. To this end, and over the past several years, the Department has had the opportunity to present and discuss resource needs through written memorandum, Study Session presentation to the City Commission, and a formal Facility Needs Assessment. Although not an exhaustive list, much of the information has been presented in the following format(s):

Memorandum, Priorities, Goals, and Issues, March 29, 2011.
Memorandum, Civilianization Opportunities, March 29, 2011.

· Formal Needs Assessment, Police Facility Needs Assessment Study, May 1, 2011.

· Memorandum, Resource Options, May 9, 2011.

· Memorandum, Equipment Expenditure Priorities, June 11, 2012.

· City Commission Study Session, June 14, 2011.

Memorandum, Resource Needs Outline and Strategy, May 14, 2012.
Memorandum, Model for funding multi-year plan for police resources, June 14, 2012.
City Commission Study Session, June 19, 2012.
Memorandum, 2015 Budget – Additional Personnel, April 7, 2014.
Memorandum, Police Department Service Deficiencies, May 2, 2014.
Memorandum, Additional Investigative Investigations Personnel, March 9, 2015.

In addition, there have been multiple presentations to community organizations, neighborhood groups, citizen’s academies, and the educational campaign associated with the failed police facility bond vote. Much of the information has also been posted on the Department’s website for informational purposes and the news media has reported on the needs of the Department as well. A full restatement of each particular need is beyond the scope of this document. In summary, however, the Department has articulated the need for approximately 46 positions, 4.6 million dollars in equipment and capital projects, and a new facility with a projected cost of approximately 30 million dollars.

Discussion

Progress has been made in regards to some of the articulated needs. These include the addition of nine FTE positions, funding for the replacement of Radio and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) equipment, and an increase in the annual budget for ongoing equipment maintenance and replacement. In addition, equipment reserve funding has been approved for specific purchases. These have all been much appreciated and have allowed the Department to avoid potential critical failures. There continues to be unmet needs. In response to your request, the following are the top issues (not in any order of importance) facing the Department:

· The need for a new combined police facility remains. The situation will only get worse. This is a roughly 26 million dollar project.

· Personnel – with the current and future expected workload, there is an immediate need for additional investigative positions. These include one sergeant position, six detective positions, two officer positions, one administrative (III) support position, and five detective vehicles. There have not been any appreciable detective position increases in ten years. The first year cost is estimated at $1.3 million dollars.

· Additional funding for training. The Department has requested that this line item be funded at an additional level for several years. Current funding is approximately $17,000 for 185 personnel. This has been inadequate and non-renewable Law Enforcement Trust funds have been utilized for training. A poorly funded training budget negatively impacts best practices and employee development. This can be addressed by providing an additional $43,000 (for a total of $60,000) in the training budget.

· Salary and wage issues. The salary range of exempt commissioned staff (sergeants and captains) has been capped for at least four years. Non-exempt commissioned (MOU employees) wages have not. This is exasperating an already existing compensation compression problem. With the exception of this year, the salaries and wages of civilian employees had also been capped for several years. An increase in merit pool funding should also be considered as a way to further reward employees for their excellent service. As it stands now, it takes too long for employees to move up in their respective pay ranges.

· Deferred vehicle replacement. The Department has identified approximately 18 vehicles that should be replaced at a cost of $552,000. Historic funding in this line item has been approximately $225,000.