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Residents press Lafayette council to end Flock Safety contract and raise concerns about police K-9 naming
Summary
Multiple Lafayette residents urged the council to terminate its contract with Flock Safety ALPR cameras and to adopt stronger privacy protections; another resident urged removal or renaming of a police K-9 whose name was characterized as a racial slur.
Public comment at the Lafayette City Council meeting focused heavily on privacy and police-accountability concerns.
Several residents urged the council to end or revise the city's contract with Flock Safety, the private vendor that supplies automated license-plate readers (ALPRs). Jordan Brendall, a resident who said he recently moved to Lafayette, described ALPRs as "mass surveillance," saying they record license plates and identifying vehicle features and are integrated into cloud-based systems that create searchable location histories. Brendall asked the city and Tippecanoe County to "rethink the relations with Flock Safety and remove these cameras that are spying on us 24/7." (Jordan Brendall, public comment.)
Colleen Matthews, a Lafayette business owner, said the city has a five-year, $250,000 contract with Flock Safety covering Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2028 (as stated in her remarks) and criticized the company's security practices and marketing claims; she urged council to "terminate our contract with Flock Safety" or, at minimum, adopt enforceable data-use protections. Matthews also urged an "aggressive public privacy protection campaign" and a transparent, enforceable data-governance guide. (Colleen Matthews, public comment.)
Kenny, another resident, reiterated Fourth Amendment concerns and argued the ALPR program allows the creation of long-term location profiles that should not be collected without stronger legal safeguards.
Separately, Kurt Freeman raised a complaint about the Lafayette police K-9's name, saying the name used on vehicles and on the department website appears to be a racial slur. Freeman urged the council and police to remove the name and offered to assist with associated costs if necessary. (Kurt Freeman, public comment.)
Council did not take formal action on the contract or the dog-name complaint during the meeting; members said public comment would be noted and directed staff to follow up where appropriate.
