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Speakers urge pause on Flock Safety contract and call for K-9 renaming; varied public comments follow council business
Summary
Public commenters urged the city to suspend or renegotiate its contract with Flock Safety and to rename a police K-9 whose name a resident described as a racial slur; other speakers praised city services and raised unrelated concerns. Council acknowledged comments; no formal actions were taken at the meeting.
During public comment at the May 4 meeting, several Lafayette residents raised concerns about surveillance, police conduct and community treatment.
Kenneth Bright of 29 North 19th Street urged the council to "suspend or terminate the contract and pause any plans for expansion" of the city’s relationship with Flock Safety and outlined specific requests including zero retention of vehicle data absent a warrant, opting out of vendor data-sharing, prohibition on equipment changes without written authorization and a ban on the vendor’s Raven audio sensors; he also called for independent third-party security audits.
Kirk Freeman of the Hedgewood neighborhood asked the city to rename a Lafayette Police Department service dog, asserting the current name is a racial slur against Romani people and urging a corrective response. Freeman said he had communicated with representatives and provided a plan for remediation.
Other public commenters included Tyler Beach, who raised broader civil-rights and surveillance concerns, and Perry Barbee, who praised city services and public employees for street maintenance following winter storms. The council heard the comments but took no immediate policy action during the meeting.
