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KU proposes expansion and modernization of Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson
LAWRENCE — The Kansas Board of Regents earlier this month approved a plan from the University of Kansas to renovate the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) campus located near Hutchinson. The KLETC Campus Master Plan would provide facilities for new curriculum, interagency training and capacity for more students. The plan will now go to the Kansas Legislature.
Researchers examine record-shattering 2020 trans-Atlantic dust storm
LAWRENCE — For two weeks in June 2020, a massive dust plume from Saharan Africa crept westward across the Atlantic, blanketing the Caribbean and Gulf Coast states in the U.S. Now, researchers from the University of Kansas have published a new study parsing the mechanism that transported the dust. Their results explain a phenomenon that could occur more frequently in the years ahead due to climate change, affecting human health and transportation systems.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Chris Gregory, KU Edwards Campus, 913-897-8411, [email protected], @KUEdwardsCampus
KU proposes expansion and modernization of Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson
LAWRENCE — The Kansas Board of Regents earlier this month approved a plan from the University of Kansas to renovate the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) campus located near Hutchinson. The KLETC Campus Master Plan would provide facilities for new curriculum, interagency training and capacity for more students. The plan will now go to the Kansas Legislature.
“There is no more important government function than effectively enforcing its laws,” said Darin Beck, executive director of KLETC. “We are seeing the consequences nationwide of what happens when law enforcement isn’t done well. It tears apart the fabric of our society. Only when Kansans are safe can they live their lives in freedom, go to work or school, run their businesses, raise their families, and enjoy leisure time and their other pursuits.”
The new curriculum supported by the proposed campus master plan emphasizes hands-on, scenario-based training. This approach is regarded as the most effective. New and updated facilities would include emergency vehicle operations courses, an indoor firearms range and a tactical village.
“The planned facilities create places where we can conduct coordinated, combined training of public safety services,” Beck said. “This represents what real-world incidents in Kansas and elsewhere look like, such as the Greensburg tornado and other natural disasters, a terrorist attack, a school shooting or other active shooter situations, and other modern threats. These are clearly scenarios we want Kansas first responders to be well-prepared to handle.”
Beck said the current campus at times suffers from capacity limits, such as insufficient dormitory, dining hall and classroom space. These facilities would be expanded in the plan.
The campus entrance and arrival plaza and grounds will also be improved. Beck said the plan will create an atmosphere of a higher education campus, emphasizing service to communities, well-being and fitness in addition to classroom-based education and tactical training.
The proposed campus design, supporting KLETC’s strategic plan, results from years of work including visits to similar campuses in other states, conversations with local stakeholders and consultations with architects specializing in such facilities.
“We look forward to working with the Legislature to earn their approval of the project and determine how best to fund it,” said David Cook, vice chancellor of public affairs and economic development for KU. “There are a number of ways to pay for this kind of important project, including options that don’t draw on funds from taxpayers. We are eager to explore all avenues with our state leaders and their decision on the best option.”
KLETC is currently funded by a portion of statewide court docket fees and vehicle tag fees. The existing facility in Reno County was previously a World War II-era naval air training facility. Some of KLETC’s buildings date from the 1950s. The proposed campus master plan will span 20 years, resulting in a campus that would comprise 19 buildings. The $200 million to $250 million project estimate includes acquisition of land adjacent to the current location, utilities, roads, drainage, demolition of some buildings, renovations of other buildings and construction of new buildings. Improvements would also enhance the safety of the campus and its occupants through new security measures and protections from severe weather.
KU hopes the Legislature will proceed with discussion and planning for the KLETC campus master plan in the upcoming session.
About the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center
Established by the Kansas Legislature in 1968 as the central law enforcement training facility for the state, the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) serves as the headquarters for all law enforcement training in Kansas. Located at the former naval air station south of Hutchinson and west of Yoder in Reno County, KLETC – a unit of the University of Kansas Lifelong & Professional Education – directly trains the overwhelming majority of municipal, county and state law enforcement officers in Kansas, and it oversees, supervises and monitors the training of the remaining officers at eight authorized and certified academy programs operated by local law enforcement agencies and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
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Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected], @BrendanMLynch
Researchers examine record-shattering 2020 trans-Atlantic dust storm
LAWRENCE — For two weeks in June 2020, a massive dust plume from Saharan Africa crept westward across the Atlantic, blanketing the Caribbean and Gulf Coast states in the U.S. The dust storm was so strong, it earned the nickname “Godzilla.”
Now, researchers from the University of Kansas have published a new study in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society parsing the mechanism that transported the dust. Their results explain a phenomenon that could occur more frequently in the years ahead due to climate change, affecting human health and transportation systems.
African dust darkened the skies of the Caribbean and American Gulf States thanks to a trio of atmospheric patterns, according to the study.
“Our study finds that it was mainly three different systems,” said lead author Bing Pu, assistant professor of geography & atmospheric sciences at KU. “The African easterly jet exports the dust from Africa towards the Atlantic region. Then the North Atlantic Subtropical High, which is a high-pressure system sitting over the subtropical North Atlantic, can further transport it towards the Caribbean region. Once the dust reaches the Caribbean region, the Caribbean low-level jet — that’s another system — along with the subtropical high can further transport the dust from Caribbean region towards the States.”
Pu and co-author Qinjian Jin, lecturer and academic program associate with KU’s Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science, used satellite datasets to reconstruct the patterns that transported the dust from Africa to the Americas.
“We mainly used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on Terra and Aqua satellites, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization onboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite,” Pu said.
Combining the satellite data with readings from air quality stations, the researchers used computers to analyze how the dust was handed off between jet-stream systems to reach the Caribbean and U.S., where it disrupted transportation and had the potential to change weather.
“News reports mentioned the visibility of the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was reduced down to five miles, which is really low,” Pu said. “Visibility in the U.S. Virgin Islands was down to three miles, so it can affect public transport. There are environmental impacts as well. Dust can affect circulation and precipitation — they can modify climate as well, when there’s a large amount.”
Worse, the dust plume from Africa had the potential to cause health problems for people in the Americas.
“Small particles, especially those with diameter less than 2.5 micrometers, can easily be taken into the human breathing system and cause respiratory diseases,” Pu said. “Some studies have linked this back to lung cancer as well. There’s also a study finding that the dust storm has been associated with increased nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality in the United States. Also, there are dust-dwelling fungi which may cause a disease called Valley fever that happens in Arizona and California and has been related to dust storms in those regions.”
Pu said hotter, drier weather and reduced vegetation in Africa could produce more airborne dust. Yet, these emissions are hard to forecast.
“There are some observations showing there is reduced precipitation in West Africa over the 20th century, which indicate drying there would have more dust emissions,” she said. “But model results don’t give a conclusion about whether dust will increase or decrease in the future. Some papers find that there would be decreased dust emissions. Our previous study found that there might be an increase in southern Sahara region in the summertime.”
Further, according to Pu, the cooperation of jet systems needed to transport the dust across the ocean is even less predictable.
“Even if you have enhanced or decreased emission, if there aren’t favorable conditions for dust to be transported, then its impact on this downwind region will be harder to quantify,” she said. “In addition to understanding the emission process in the dust-source regions, we also need to look at circulation variations that help us better project this long-range transport of dust as well as its environmental and climate impacts in the U.S. Other regions can be affected as well because African dust can be transported to South America and also Europe and the Mediterranean region.”
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