The first in a series of three virtual town hall meetings on Lexington’s Commission on Racial Justice and Equality will be Tuesday night. The first remote town hall session will focus on racial equality and education and economic opportunity.
A number of subcommittees have been meeting. That includes the Law Enforcement, Justice, and Accountability panel. Community Advocate Brannon Dunn last week said the term “suspicious activity’ can be open to interpretation. “I hear that a lot. That looks suspicious. There’s suspicious activity. What does suspicious look like? You know, somebody running up and down the street on a pogo stick in a clown’s suit. Maybe that may look suspicious, but maybe just because you have a different culture, a different swag in the way you walk, doesn’t mean that you’re suspicious,” said Dunn.
Police recruitment was also discussed last week. Assistant Police Chief Brian Maynard said candidates can be removed from consideration at various points in the hiring process. He cited specifically social media posts can sometimes signal a red flag with a candidate. “Social media aspect, as we all know, can show a lot about an individual’s character, what they’re commenting on, the memes that they are sharing. And that is already being looked at and we have removed folks from our process that may be showing some of those racial bias’ and just their comments or in their memes or posts they make themselves,” noted Maynard.
Tuesday’s virtual town hall is scheduled to begin at 6:30 and can be accessed on the Lexington government web site.?
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