Residents urge council to protect community groups, improve mental‑health response and avoid local immigration enforcement deals
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Summary
At the Feb. 10 Lynchburg council meeting, multiple residents urged city action to preserve Peacemakers, create a mental‑health task force, and avoid local participation in federal immigration enforcement agreements that could erode public trust.
Several Lynchburg residents used the public‑comment period at the Feb. 10 City Council meeting to press the council on community safety, mental‑health education, and immigration enforcement policy.
Allen Davis, who lives across from Robert S. Payne School, asked council to help preserve Peacemakers, Inc., saying the organization’s video evidence helped apprehend a suspect in a nearby murder and that the group provides neighborhood safety benefits. “If city council has any influence on public safety…this organization has proven to be a benefit,” Davis said.
Juanita Berger urged the council to create a task force to improve public understanding of mental‑health conditions—PTSD, bipolar disorder and autism—and to explore technology or procedural steps (including notary verification for transport paperwork) that could keep both officers and vulnerable residents safer during crisis responses.
Two speakers addressed proposals for local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. David Duby, a Lynchburg resident, said local policing should prioritize community needs and argued that county arrest rates did not justify targeting immigrant communities; he warned that selective enforcement would send the wrong message to residents and businesses. Ryan Ball, a Bedford County resident and police officer, told council that deputizing local officers or substantially assisting federal immigration enforcement would erode trust, reduce 911 reporting and risk officers leaving the force. “If we as a city enter in an agreement with the federal government to help in immigration enforcement, any trust we’ve built over the years will be gone,” Ball said.
Council acknowledged the concerns and indicated staff follow‑up may be requested; no formal council action on immigration agreements or task‑force creation was recorded during the meeting.
