Wichita State’s Center for Urban Studies at Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs released a detailed, 227-page assessment last week of the Wichita Police Department.

The report was commissioned after the city’s police chief, Norman Williams, announced his retirement in August. City Manager Robert Layton said at the time that the city would conduct an operational assessment of the department as part of the search for Williams’ replacement. The report was to review the WPD’s mission and vision, and identify its strengths and weaknesses.

Layton turned to the Hugo Wall School at WSU to assist in drafting that report, which was completed and announced at a news conference Feb. 19.

“The report was designed to be a blueprint for major issues the next chief would need to address,” said Misty Bruckner, director of the Center for Urban Studies. “It identifies qualities and qualifications the city will be looking for in candidates, and lays out recommendations for hiring the next chief.”

According to Bruckner, much of the content, research, expertise and guidance for the project came from Michael Birzer, professor of criminal justice and director of the School of Community Affairs, and Andra Bannister, professor of criminal justice and director of the federally-funded Regional Community Policing Institute.

The Hugo Wall School acted as the project manager for the report, facilitating 45 different stakeholder meetings with internal and external groups.

Bruckner said at the news conference that she wanted members of Wichita’s minority community to be active in police training, and to create understanding on both sides. The report was not commissioned in reaction to recent civil unrest in Missouri and elsewhere, Bruckner said, but she did acknowledge that it was an environment the report referenced.

“It’s definitely part of what the next chief is going to think about,” she said, “about community relations, especially in the African-American and in other minority communities.”

Bruckner said a big point the report addressed was WPD’s communication factor and its need to build relationships with the community. Another aspect the report considers is the changing makeup of the police force itself.

“One of the things I think is really telling is the huge drop in recruitment,” Bruckner said. “That’s a huge issue for the department: how do you recruit college students and others to go into law enforcement?”

The WPD has experienced a significant change in leadership in the past five years, Bruckner said, with all of the deputy chiefs and 90 percent of the captains — the top two levels of WPD leadership — all new in their positions.

Wichita State University police was not a group that was named in connection with the report, she said, except as a community partner.

“They are definitely an important factor in building relationships and partnerships in the future,” Bruckner said.