Lawrence City Commission voices concerns about validity of community survey on police

While some Lawrence city commissioners said the results of a survey gauging the community’s interactions with and perceptions of Lawrence police were important to consider, they also expressed disappointment and frustration with the consultant’s methodology in conducting the survey.

The city hired Allegro Training & Consulting and paid the firm $20,000 to complete the survey. Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen said she is a big believer in looking at statistics, but pointed out that one version of the consultant’s own report states that the survey is not statistically valid because it doesn’t have a representative sample of the population.

“I want to see data that will help us move forward with our policing in Lawrence, but when I see sentences in here that say it is not a statistically valid cross-section of Lawrence, it’s hard for me to take that data seriously,” Larsen said.