Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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What happens when the people in power make a major decision that affects all of us, but don’t tell us about it? What happens when they don’t ask for our input, don’t open the floor for conversation, and then act as if it is too late to question it?
That’s what’s happening right now in Lawrence.
Back in November, the city commission quietly approved a powerful surveillance system called “Fusus.” It was slipped into a body camera contract — no vote, no hearing, no heads up to the public, no opportunity for dialogue.
Now, months later, it’s being rolled out under three new friendly new names: “Community Connect Program,” “Community Camera Sharing Program,” “Connect Lawrence.” More than 100 private cameras are already plugged in, and the goal is to get more homes and businesses to livestream footage directly to the police.
Let’s be clear: this seems intentional. The commission’s silence wasn’t an oversight — it was the strategy or the clear shortcomings. We were never meant to be informed. We were meant to stay quiet and let it happen.
But that’s not how we do things in Lawrence.
When technology this expansive is deployed in our community — technology that can fundamentally shift the relationship between residents and law enforcement — it has to be done transparently. And most importantly, with everyone at the table.
We’re not anti-safety. We’re pro-process. And what is happening right now isn’t just a policy misstep — it’s a breach of trust and a lack of consideration.
That’s why as of 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, 274 Lawrence neighbors have already signed on to demand change. Through the Lawrence Transparency Project, we’re calling on the city to pause this program immediately, hold a public hearing and establish independent oversight. Because once surveillance systems are in place, they tend to grow — quietly, permanently, and without real boundaries, unless we set them.
We deserve more than vague police press releases and hidden software contracts. We deserve answers. We deserve a voice.
The commission needs to be reminded that public input is vital in the conversations of public safety. If there is unfounded belief that this program is good, they should be more than happy to have a conversation.
But instead, they’ve chosen silence — and that silence is loud.
So let’s be louder.
This is about our right to know, our right to ask questions, our right to shape the kind of community we want to live in — one that protects both safety and freedom, both accountability and care.
The city commission may be hoping this will blow over, but we’re not going anywhere. We’re watching now. We’re organizing. And we’re ready to speak up.
Because this is our city. And we have every right to be heard.
Ways to plug in:
• Contact Lawrence city commissioners directly.
• Sign the petition at this link and join the Lawrence Transparency Project at Tuesday’s city commission meeting.
• Give public comment. You can submit written public comment to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of the meeting, comment in person at Lawrence City Hall or register for Tuesday’s Zoom meeting to give comment virtually. The city commission generally meets at 5:45 p.m. on the first, second and third Tuesdays of each month.
— Micha Anne Cox (she/they), Lawrence
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Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Max Kautsch: In loco parentis, or just plain loco – Surveilling Kansas students doesn’t make sense (Column)
“The outcome of the case will depend largely on whether the district can show that implementing software designed to monitor students the way it did was closely related enough to an important government interest — namely, student safety — to justify Gaggle’s intrusion into the students’ lives,” Max Kautsch writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
