Lawrence city commissioners directed the police chief Tuesday to work with community members to implement safeguards with the use of advanced surveillance camera integration and technology.
Commissioners heard from 42 people about the Axon Fusus program Tuesday evening, and 38 of them directly asked the commission to pause further integration of cameras around the city with police technology. The discussion lasted more than four hours.
Dozens of residents have spoken out during public comment and in writing to the commission asking that the rollout of the program be paused so the public can discuss concerns.
Read more about the program in this article and additional coverage at this link.
Kincaid Dennett, an organizer with the Lawrence Transparency Project, told commissioners the group would like to see a pause on further integrating cameras and programs, and slowed implementation of artificial intelligence.
Dennett said they believe cameras are useful tools to solve crimes, and a registry of people’s residential cameras — which is one component of the Connect Lawrence program — could be efficient toward that goal.
“We’re not trying to attack, or take away,” they said. “We’re trying to put in protections.”
Lawrence Police Sgt. Drew Fennelly told the commission that the camera integrations underway are cameras on and in city buildings. The new software has made it more efficient for the department to see videos from different sources at the same time.
Commissioner Amber Sellers said she doesn’t see a concern with pausing “because it’s about community.” If a growing number of community members have concerns about the program and aren’t comfortable with it, “that’s dissonance,” and the city isn’t moving the needle the way it should be.
“What our community is saying is that we’re here, and they’re wanting to be heard,” Sellers said. “And they want to know that their governing body, that their city hears them.”
Commissioner Lisa Larsen said it seemed like this was a good point to reevaluate.
“Let’s reflect on what we’ve got — which is what we’ve been doing tonight — and then see how, what’s the proper way to move forward, and with the input from the entire community,” Larsen said.
Mayor Mike Dever said he believes in the tools the police department is using, and he thinks they’re right for Lawrence. But he wants to ensure that the necessary engagement happens with the community.
“I want these people to feel and believe they’re heard and that we get the best possible policy out of this, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of our law enforcement capabilities. And it sounds to me like that’s not the case,” Dever said.
Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei said he thinks there’s some low-hanging fruit in policy that can easily be codified, such as agreeing not to use facial-recognition software.
Commissioners directed Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart to form a work group with community members who were present and others who were interested to look at policy around the system, including access, security issues, the AI technology, whether ordinances need to be written and more, and to come back to the commission with recommendations.
Community concerns
The dozens of community members who spoke to the commission raised numerous points, many voicing concerns about data, privacy, potential for outside interference by state and federal agencies, and much more.
Corrinne Yoder-Mulkey, with Kansas Holistic Defenders, told the commission it was hard to overstate the dystopian potential of the software, algorithms and networks we never opted into in storefronts, in our phones and everywhere we go.
“An ordinary life starts to feel like evidence-gathering in this world,” they said. “People stop being neighbors and become data sets; public safety becomes perpetual suspicion; and a criminal punishment system already shot with bias gets 24/7 feeds of our lives.”
Faith Lopez said they work with a domestic violence shelter, which “operates under a strict confidentiality policy that ensures a protected and empowering environment for survivors.”
“While we maintain a working relationship with Lawrence Police Department, it is critical to acknowledge that any surveillance oversight — regardless of who is monitoring — introduces a potential for misuse, including stalking and unauthorized tracking,” Lopez said. “There have been documented cases where survivors have fled abusive partners who were members of law enforcement.”
Mariel Ferreiro, a local advocate for immigrant rights, said the country is seeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting in ways it never has before.
“We are seeing people kidnapped in real time,” she said. “… We can create actual codified ordinance that protects our community; that rolls this out in a way that has community participation and prevents as much as possible federal rogue agencies from harming and kidnapping our community members.”
Dennett and a few others returned during general public comment to thank the commission.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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