LAWRENCE — Tuesday, the Mayor of Lawrence addressed public safety during her "State of the City" Address.
It was the first time in many years that the event was open to the public.
Deborah Whitfield took office at the beginning of the year. During her campaign, she said she heard from residents who want more of a voice in their community, and many who are concerned about safety. Whitfield said building trust is key.
"We need to be transparent as a city. We need to engage, connect, and tell as much of the story as possible. And it's important that they understand that public safety is important to us," Whitfield said.
"With crime, it has no boundaries. Crime is across all communities and in different ways. In which that's what we try to focus on making sure that when we look at our resources how are we going to allocate them? How are we going to get more officers? How do we retain those officers?" Chief Curtis Bigsbee of Lawrence Police Department said.
Whitfield said by the end of the year, she's confident that the Lawrence Police Department (LPD) will have all 65 officer positions filled for the first time in the department's history. Right now, the department has 62 sworn officers.
"I want to learn and I want to be your best mayor that I can ever be and so in order to do that I do need to learn but I also ask for patience and I ask for guidance because there's a lot of like I said community opportunities out here in Lawrence and I want to look for them, I want to engage, I want everybody in Lawrence to feel that they belong here in Lawrence," Whitfield said.
Whitfield challenges the community to continue to work with her office and LPD to bridge the gap between communities, law enforcement and her office.
