Digg Story
Stumble It!Lawrence is the only town that 21-year-old Malcolm Miller has ever called home. Many nights he can be found downtown on Massachusetts Street with friends enjoying a drink or listening to a local band.
Safety was never a problem for him. He always stayed out of trouble, making it home safely every night. Then, about a month ago, that changed as Miller and a friend were walking back to his car from the Replay Lounge.
“We were crossing 9th and Mass. when this guy starts yelling at us from his car. We can’t really understand him.” Miller said, “He pulls a u-turn, jumps out of his car, and hits me in the face twice. Then my buddy jumps in to push him away and he gets hit and splits his lip, which required 10 stitches to heal.”
Miller’s incident is not an isolated one. Since 2001, violent crime has risen in downtown Lawrence. Members of the City Commission have worked with downtown business owners, the police and the Kansas Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) in recent months to attempt to curb this growing trend of violence.
Incidents of assault and battery have increased rapidly in downtown Lawrence. According to the Kansas Incident Based Reporting System (KIBRS), 41 assaults were reported in downtown Lawrence in 2001, a number which has steadily increased in the last five years. In 2006, there were 245 reports of assault and battery in downtown Lawrence, an increase of nearly 100 from the year before.
Assault and battery isn’t the only problem. Gun violence has also gone up and the increased presence of firearms definitely caught the attention of the city commission. “What is highest on everybody’s radar is gun violence and there have been incidents,” said Dennis Highberger, Lawrence City Commissioner.
In May 2006, seven shots were fired inside the Last Call, a downtown nightclub. A few months before, in February 2006, 46-year-old Robert Earl Williams of Topeka was shot and killed outside of the Granada after a rap concert.
In addition to the shootings, KIBRS recorded 24 weapons violations in downtown Lawrence between June 2005 and June 2007, with 17 of those cases reported in 2006 alone.
Highberger said that the city does not currently have the power to impose restrictions on a bar for violence that occurs outside of the establishment, because safety restrictions are overseen by the state. Highberger said that the city is now working more closely with Kansas’ ABC to review the liquor licenses of bars that have a documented history of violence.
“Every time a license is up for renewal, members of the public, including our city staff, can comment and express any problems that they have,” Highberger said. “We haven’t done that in the past because we were not led to believe that anything that we were going to offer would make any difference to the ABC. That’s something that’s different now.”
The city will go before the ABC later this month for the first time to comment on a license it does not want renewed. Last Call has a scheduled hearing on November 19 and 20 before the ABC regarding the renewal of its liquor license.
Rather than relying solely on ABC, the city is considering establishing additional licensing requirements. Highberger said that in addition to liquor licenses, the city is exploring the option of requiring establishments that serve alcohol to obtain an entertainment license, which would be purchased by bars from the city for a small fee. It would grant the city more authority to react quickly and impose sanctions against bars when problems arise, a power the city does not currently possess.
“We do not have the tools to address this problem locally now and we don’t have the means we need to take action,” Highberger said.
Jane Pennington, director of Downtown Lawrence Inc., would like to see other actions taken against bars with a history of problems.
We are lobbying with the city for alternative solutions like the nuisance business ordinance,” Pennington said.
This ordinance would allow the city to take action if there are numerous complaints about the same establishment.
Safety is on the minds of more than just city commissioners. KU students also consider a bar’s reputation before deciding where to spend the evening.
“If there is any bar in town that is known for having safety issues then I will protest and I won’t go,” said Laurent Williams, KU sophomore.
When Chaz Rumage, KU sophomore, goes out to the bars with a large group of guys, safety doesn’t play a major role in where they go for the evening. But if he is on a date, safety becomes a big priority.
“If I am going out with girls or a girl I really care about then safety plays a big role and I don’t want to be in a dangerous situation in the first place,” Rumage said.
Pennington believes one way to make people feel safer at night is to increase the police presence downtown. She said that adding additional patrolmen to the downtown beat can prevent future problems with violence.
The city tested the tactic this summer. Every weekend night between June 29 and August 4 the Lawrence Police Department added 10 extra officers to patrol downtown. During that time no major violent incidents occurred.
The Lawrence Police Department declined to be interviewed when asked to comment on the experiment and what else the police department is doing to make downtown safer.
Video: Andrew Sherwood
To gain extra revenue to fund more nighttime officers, Pennington suggested extending the hours that the downtown parking meters remain active.
Currently the city only collects parking fees Monday through Friday until five p.m. She has suggested that the city extend the parking fee hours until nine or ten o’clock at night, and using the increased revenue to pay for additional downtown officers.
For some downtown patrons, safety does not have a price.
“If it meant paying extra to see more cops making a presence and it made things a little bit safer, I would be willing to pay more for it,” said Kevin O’Neal, a patron at a downtown bar.
Even residents who feel safe downtown are willing to make sacrifices for more safety.
“I don’t feel that safety is really an issue,” said Jared Ernzen, Lawrence resident. “However, if they had a tax to have more police or security, if that meant people felt safer to come downtown then I would be for it.”
Poll: Downtown Police Presence
Would you be willing to extend downtown parking meter hours or increase the sales tax to pay for more police in downtown Lawrence at night?
