Topeka’s newly elected mayor, Mike Padilla, and interim City Manager Bill Cochran held their first press conference of 2022 at city hall Tuesday morning. Cochran said the city is moving forward with the demolition of White Lakes Mall. Padilla said the process of knocking down the mall completely will take about three months, with asbestos removal being the top priority. “We want to do it right,” Padilla said. Padilla touted the latest report that showed Topeka crime statistics are dropping. Topeka saw a 25% decrease in overall crime in 2021, a 27% decrease in property crime, and a 13.5% decrease in violent crime, according to the Topeka Police Department. Those numbers come from the Topeka Police Department’s 2021 year-end report.
Source: KSNT News
