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Police chief warns cuts to three funded positions would strain force as council weighs budget trade-offs and vehicle purchases
Summary
Curtis Bidsby, chief of the Lawrence Police Department, warned the committee that removing three police positions funded in the 2025 budget would "significant[ly] change" departmental services and further strain officers.
Curtis Bidsby, chief of the Lawrence Police Department, told the committee that removing three funded positions from the department's 2025 budget would "significant[ly] change" how the department delivers services and further overtax already stretched officers.
Chief Bidsby said the department was budgeted for 68 positions in 2025 but that 63 officers were currently filled; he described an active recruitment pipeline of about 11 candidates at various stages and said historically about half of candidates drop out during testing and background screens. "If we take away 3 now, then it takes approximately a year to get an officer on the police…
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