Hunter Sullivan

Ashley Todd-Diaz
Literacy and Technology 100
12 September 2014
Emporias Law Enforcement
It is only my first month living in the town of emporia, but one thing that I notice on
every street is some sort of law enforcement. According to the Emporia Police Department, there
are 45 sworn officers and 24 civilian employees just in the police department alone. This
includes the officers, investigators, patrol division (which includes bike patrol), and the dispatch
operators. On top of all 69 members of the police department, our campus has our own police
and safety and staffs 11 campus officers.
The area of Emporia, Kansas is 11.94 square miles. That is not a big enough town to have
80 law enforcers. Lyon County Sheriff Department has a sworn staff of 28, support staff of 14,
and a jail staff of 47 (Kansas Sheriffs Association). Sheriffs generally work outside of the city
limits, although I have seen sheriffs on campus and downtown Emporia. Why would they need
to come into city limits? I understand that Emporia is a college town, so it is going to be busier
than any other average town; however, does the law enforcements reason for staffing so many
employees at one time match the reality of Emporias reputation? Emporia does not have a lot of
crime going on, so I feel the police are looking for a way to make their night busy. I want to
understand their reasoning of staffing so many police at once. Did something happen?

Work Cited
"Emporia Police Department." City of Emporia. City of Emporia, 2011. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
<http://police.emporia-kansas.gov/>.
"Kansas Sheriffs' Association." Kansas Sheriffs' Association. Books-Jeffery Marketing, 2014.
Web. 14 Sept. 2014. <http://kansassheriffs.org/county_map_view.php?name=Lyon>.

Concept Map: https://bubbl.us/?h=22e8c0/46c82a/22AvsQdoKJJ8k&r=1739689101

Research Question: Does the law enforcements reason for staffing so many employees at one
time match the reality of Emporias reputation? (Highlighted in the Summary of topic)

Preliminary Research Outline:

1. Introduction
a. Emporias law enforcement is overstaffed
i. Background info on the departments of enforcement
b. Emporias Reputation
i. Background info on the towns history of problems (crimes scenes)
c. Research Question turned into a thesis
i. The law enforcements reason for staffing so many employees at one time
does not match the reality of Emporias reputation.
2. Emporia Kansass Police Department
a. Background on the Departments
i. Patrol, Officers, investigators, and dispatch operators
b. Reasons they increased the staff over the years
i. Did something happen
ii. Has it helped our town or not
c. Boundaries they have
i. What are their limits
ii. They shouldnt enter campus grounds
1. Unless 911 has been called
3. ESUs Police and Safety Department
a. Background on the Department
i. What they are able to do and what they are not able to do
1. Always call police and safety department

a. They will call 911 if needed

4. Lyon County Sheriff Department
a. Background on the department.
i. Sworn Staff, Support staff, Jail staff
b. Their Boundaries
i. Where does their limit end
ii. Why are sheriffs found in town
iii. Do they have authority in city limits?
5. Conclusion
a. People need to know their rights.
i. Dont be taken advantage of because you dont know your rights
b. Restate paper
i. Each department has their limits and boundaries
1. Know them
c. Restate thesis
i. Law enforcers overstaff their shifts and employees find themselves
looking for things to go wrong in Emporia.
1. Unnecessary amount of cops leads to unnecessary reasons for
pulling people over.

Research Timeline:
Projects:

Due Dates:

Estimated time:

Topic Development

September 15 @ 11:59pm

Completed

Creating Search statements

September 29 @ 11:59pm

1 week (begin no later than the 22nd)

Take-Home Quiz

October 14 @ 11:59pm

2 weeks (begin studying no later than the first of October)

Evaluation of Sources

October 20 @ 11:59pm

4 days (begin no later than October 16th)

Annotated Bibliography

November 10 @ 11:59pm

1 week (start the 3rd and do one every day)

The Trail to Information Literacy and Beyond Project (portfolio/website)

Portfolio Presentation

December 1 @ 11:59pm

the semester (work on in class and outside of class)

December 2 & 11 during Class

Look over before presenting (know what to talk about)