The Lawrence Police Department, working with the Department of Justice, will hold two half-day workshops “where DOJ facilitators hope to improve trust and develop partnerships between police and community members.”
All Lawrence community members are invited to attend, according to a news release announcing the program.
The program’s goals are to improve trust and develop partnerships between law enforcement and the community, engage in dialogue to identify issues and solve problems collaboratively and address longstanding community distrust and historical barriers, according to a flyer about the workshops.
“I’ve always said I want our officers to police our community the way the people want to be policed,” Chief Rich Lockhart said in the release. “When I heard the Department of Justice facilitates a program to help strengthen our partnerships and continue the dialogue moving us in that direction, I knew they were the experts to bring on board.”
Lt. Myrone Grady oversees LPD’s Office of Diversity and Community Engagement, which is organizing the event.
Grady said in the release that they’re working to reach as many people as possible so they’ll be able to hear new voices.
“Some of the silence between law enforcement and certain community members are longstanding, in fact, generational, so these discussions may not flow easily,” Lt. Myrone Grady said in the release. “But we believe the hard work can bring mutual understandings and those are things we can follow up on and partnerships we can continue to build.”
The workshops are set for 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 27 and Saturday, Aug. 3. They’ll be held at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana St. People are encouraged to attend both sessions.
Registration is required; those who are interested may register at bit.ly/RegisterSPCP. There will be coffee and pastries, according to the registration form.
For questions, contact the LPD office at DiversityOfficer@LKPD.org or Emily Salinas with the Department of Justice at 312-353-4391.
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