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New Lawrence chief of police no stranger to crime

LAWRENCE, Ind. (WISH) — IMPD’s Southwest District Commander David Hofmann will become the next chief of the Lawrence Police Department.

Hofmann has lived in Lawrence for the past 18 years. Mayor-elect Steve Collier beat Mayor Dean Jessup in the Lawrence mayoral race in November. Shortly after the election, Collier appointed Hoffman to be the city’s next chief.

During Hofmann’s stint as commander of IMPD’S southwest district, he oversaw the protection of 140,000 residents in the southern district. During that time he saw the crime rate in the district drop by 2 percent. In 2014, there were 22 murders reported in the area; so far this year there have been 14 murder investigations.

He’s also seen some high profile investigations.

His district investigated the brutal murder of a 15-year-old girl named Dominque Allen. The other investigation includes the murder of newlywed husband Nathan Trapuzzano. A teenage gunman shot and killed him as he went for a morning walk.

“We had some tragic events that were solved while we are here. It has to do with officers that walk the streets and the detectives that come investigate violent crimes,” said Hofmann.

24-Hour News 8 has learned that Hofmann has an open style of communication. He wants business leaders in the community to be in direct contact with him.

“If you have a strong partnership between the officers and the residents, nothing can be stronger,” said Hofmann.

Although he’s done his homework on Lawrence, he would like to use some of IMPD’s successes and implement them in the eastern city.

One idea includes giving officers narcan to use on those that overdose on heroin. Currently in IMPD, officers carry narcan with them, and the medication has been credited with saving lives of heroin users.

Those who know Hofmann call him fair and say he will work to understand all sides of an issue both making a decision.

It’s unclear if Hofmann will make any changes in Lawrence’s command staff. Hofmann will assume his new leadership position the first of the year.

So far a replacement to his southwest district position has yet to be named.

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