Public safety
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Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to have enhanced patrols through Thanksgiving weekend
Extra Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies will be patrolling through Saturday, looking out for impaired and distracted drivers.
MORe Public Safety
Click here for the Lawrence police blotter — new log uploaded each day around 1 p.m.
Unlike most jails in Kansas, Douglas County has found a way to lock up fewer mentally ill inmates
The number of people booked into the Douglas County jail with serious mental illness dropped from 18% in 2014 to 10% in 2022 — and hit a low of 5.5% in 2018.
Vera Institute report on Douglas County jail spotlights racial disparities, charges driving incarceration
Almost one out of every three Black men ages 25-54 living in Douglas County were booked into the jail between 2017 and 2021.
That number is among findings in a recent report by the Vera Institute of Justice examining incarceration here.
Shots fired into homes in southern Lawrence; no one injured, police say
Lawrence police are investigating after someone fired gunshots into multiple homes Monday evening, with at least one bullet striking a child’s bed. Fortunately, no one was injured.
City: ‘Best to refocus resources’ from North Lawrence camp to Winter Emergency Shelter
The City of Lawrence said Tuesday morning that people experiencing homelessness are being cleared out of the camp in North Lawrence in order to “refocus resources” to the overnight Winter Emergency Shelter.
City clearing residents out of North Lawrence camp for people experiencing homelessness
Jennifer Adams’ eyes were red Monday morning from crying off and on since Friday, when the city issued a batch of eviction notices to people experiencing homelessness at the support camp in North Lawrence.
Ending source of income discrimination in Lawrence will be a key step toward solving housing crisis, panelists say
Only about 10% of Lawrence landlords participate in housing voucher programs, and right now, people in 51 households with vouchers in hand are struggling to find housing, panelists told a crowd Thursday evening at the library.
Panel at Lawrence library to address housing problems and solutions
Local housing experts will discuss rental problems and the shortage of affordable housing options during a panel Thursday at the Lawrence Public Library.
Fire damages Lawrence apartment building; no injuries
No one was injured, but an apartment building was damaged by a fire early Monday in Lawrence.
2 dead in reported shooting southeast of Lawrence
A father and daughter are dead in an apparent murder-suicide southeast of Lawrence Monday morning, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
As Lawrence’s Winter Emergency Shelter opens, some people check in, others stay at campsite
Just before 8 p.m. Thursday, about a dozen people stood outside Lawrence’s Winter Emergency Shelter, waiting for it to open. But some people experiencing homelessness don’t want to stay there.