LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is ending operation of a special drug-focused unit, calling its structure outdated as the department moves away from focusing on “low-level users.”
Sheriff’s office spokesman Jenn Hethcoat told the Lawrence Journal-World that the decision to dissolve the unit that works with Lawrence police was finalized in November. Hethcoat says the office will continue to operate a special investigative unit but with a focus on crimes related to drug activity, “not low-level users who would benefit more directly from behavioral health support than incarceration.” The county’s new sheriff, Jay Armbrister, takes office Jan. 11.
Hethcoat says Armbrister initiated the operational change.
