14
Monday, Sept. 21, 1970
University Daily Kansan
Study Proposes Police-Citizenry 'Encounters'
By HARVEY HASLER Kansan Staff Writer
Early in 1970, Lawrence received a grant from the Governor's Committee on Criminal Administration to establish a Police-Community Relations Unit in the Police Department.
An extension of the program has been proposed, which will include a series of "encounter" groups having as participants all members of the Police Department and a cross section of citizens representing groups that say they experienced a breakdown in communication with the police.
The Menninger Foundation of Topeka was approached by the city to provide professional leadership for the group sessions.
A committee from the foundation met with the city manager, police chief, representatives of the black community, KU students, faculty members and administrators, businessmen, members of the city council, and members of the board of education.
The committee said it found general agreement that Lawrence was no longer simply a "peaceful little university town," that there was a citywide sadness about July's violence and deaths, and a concern that something positive had to be done to prevent the situation's becoming worse. The committee's study showed there was general agreement and concern that the tension had not diminished and that a small incident might easily bring more serious violence.
The study also showed that a large part of the tension and difficulty did focus on police-community relations. It said that some elements in Lawrence felt harassed and overpoliced, particularly blacks and "street people." Other elements, it said, felt
they were not getting enough protection.
The police themselves feel overworked, unappreciated and unfairly blamed, the study says, adding that police are tense and some of them angry.
On the whole, the situation seems to be getting worse rather than better, according to the study.
But police-community relations are not the only problem, the study said. There are significant underlying social problems which add to the tensions between the police and various segments of the community, it said, including the following:
- LAWRENCE and the university tend to function in a separate and isolated manner. There has been minimal communication and cooperation with each other in the past.
- THE TENSIONS and the fear have created a situation of mutual alienation and suspicion. Much time and energy have been taken up by manifestations of these feelings rather than the underlying problems that create them. Credit for progress is not being given, and channels for the expression of dissatisfaction are non-existent or are not used.
the foundation said there needed to be a policy decision by Lawrence that the police would concern themselves with human relations. Secondly, it said that the policy had to be accepted by the chief of police and his top men. After those commitments had been made, the report said, it would be helpful to bring to the general police force knowledge about different techniques for handling situations that provoke anger, so that individual officers were not forced to extreme measures as their only response.
The foundation suggested dividing this planned police-community relations program into five parts:
- THE FIRST PHASE would begin with a team from the foundation's meeting with the city council, community leaders, and top law enforcement officials under circumstances in which all the implications of the program could be explored. It would last two to three weeks.
- THE SECOND PHASE would take four to five weeks and deal with those individuals and groups potentially involved in the training. It would involve a number of meetings of the Menninger team with the various community groups, particularly those apt to be most sensitive about, or perhaps the most threatened by, the proposed program.
- One goal would be to help the policemen see that the intent of the program was not to blame them or make them scapegoats, but to expand their repertoire of responses so that they could increase their skills and develop better ways of handling frightening and anger-producing situations.
- PHASE THREE would take about twelve to fifteen weeks. It would bring the police and various community groups into constructive contact in a series of ten workshops in "Applied Community Problem-Solving."
- PHASE FOUR would help each member of the workshop, representing his segment of Lawrence, identify his own and his fellow members' perceptions of the problems and gain in-depth understanding of them.
The procedure would involve isolating all the participants—law enforcement officers and civilians—at some place outside the city for 24 hours. The goal of
those meetings would be to break down any stereotyped images that each group and individual might have of the other and to examine the problems that Lawrence would have to solve.
- THE LAST PHASE would be devoted to the development of proposals for improved police-community relations and for
dealing with the underlying social problems of the community, based on what has come out of the Workshop sessions.
The total program will cost an estimated $24,860. By the time the efforts described in their proposal are completed, the foundation says it hopes to have phased itself out.
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Environmental Projects Planned by Designers
The University of Kansas student affiliate chapter of the American Institute of Interior Designers (AID) plans to tackle problems related to environment and society this year, according to its president.
Its course of action springs from ideas that Dan Vargas, Topeka senior and KU chapter president, brought back from the national AID conference in San Francisco, Aug. 29-Sept. 1. The theme of the conference was "Environmental Design Imperatives: Action-Innovation-Demonstration.
Vargas said members of student chapters were permitted for the first time to attend the conference of the professional organization.
"The general aim of the student delegates was to create open communication between the national organization and student chapters," Vargas said.
In addition, he said students sought help in making the school curricula more relevant to the future of interior designers and requested greater opportunities for on-the-job training.
Vargas said a statement made at the conference by Peter Reegan, a systems analyst and city planning consultant, summarized the new involvement of interior designers today.
"If interior designers are to play a part in saving the environment," Reegan said, "they must have a feeling for people—the poor, minorities, the elderly and the young."
Vargas was elected vice-president of the midwest region at the conference. The region includes schools in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. In this position he will be responsible for coordinating AID environmental projects on these campuses.
Vargas said he hoped to set up a standardized program in the
In preparation for tackling environmental design problems, the KU chapter has invited an architect, contractor and urban planner to speak at its monthly meetings. Several tours to study building design have been planned.
midwest region which would offer interior design students onthe-job training in interior design shops. Students would receive credit hours instead of pay for this work, he said.
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