Lawrence Alliance Minutes

July 11, 2007
Submitted by Deb Taylor, Chair

Members Present:

Sarah Terwelp, Anne Burgess, Mike Monroe, Baha Safadi, Carlos Otero, Chris Keary, Deb Taylor

Members Absent:

Bruce Ney, Lori Tapahonso, Peter Luckey, Robbie Derritt, Bob Hubert

Staff Present:

Paul Winn 

Meeting

Deb Taylor called the meeting to order at approximately 6:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermont.  Minutes of the May 9, 2007 meeting were read. Chris made and Mike seconded a motion to accept them. The minutes were approved on a voice vote. 

Deb reported that Lori Tapahonso led the Cultural Awareness session during the Police Department's June 2007 training. She addressed Native American issues. It was warmly received by the officers in training. One hiccup during the training is that the speaker Lori had designated for the second session did not show up. Deb had to lead an impromptu discussion on general minority issues. She was able to engage in a good discussion with the officers.

Deb mentioned that she wrote a letter to the City Commission in support of the Domestic Partner Registry on behalf of the Alliance. She noted that the City Commission passed the Registry.

The Board discussed the possibility of hosting a Cultural Celebration in Lawrence next year. Deb noted that Lori said she would speak with Haskell administrators about its involvement in putting on an event like this. The Board discussed ways to possibly incorporate this with existing events in order to share costs and keep our efforts (time) at manageable levels. No specific event was pinpointed.

Carlos mentioned that, given ongoing discussions of immigration issues in the Legislation, many members of the Lawrence Hispanic community worry about possibly being profiled by the police and being reported to Immigration authorities. Mike Monroe mentioned that the Lawrence Police Department does not actively seek illegal immigrants and that few (if any) officers even know the procedure for notifying Immigration officials in KC. This is something that the LPD simply does not have time to do, Mike stated. The biggest concern, he continued, is that officers are not always able to get identification from individuals during traffic stops. Members of the Hispanic community are also less inclined to speak as witnesses to crimes for fear of deportation. The Board discussed the possibility of holding a meeting with members of the Hispanic community to help them better understand Police Department activities and protocol. The possibility of creating an "unofficial" ID card was also discussed. 

Adjournment

Ann made and Baha seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at approximately 7:30 p.m. The motion was approved on a voice vote.

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