I support measures which are outside of the realm of policing and surveillance that are evidence-based strategies that work.It is bothering me that the basketball court in Madison Park is being blamed for the uptick in gun violence as if the patrons of that court are at fault for people running to guns to solve their problems instead of de-escalation techniques. And while the park needs more lighting regardless of the racism of surveillance, it just seems like that well is tapped too much and too frequently. The tapped well is now in the form of Safer Lakewood. While the city has an Anti-Racism Task Force now, I am concerned that the recent response from the city is backtracking the commitments it has made after May 20, 2020 in making the city of Lakewood a more welcoming city for diversity with a couple members of Council looking favorably on Safer Lakewood, unconscious of the racism of the name. This response does not seem tempered, and I would like a more tempered response that isn't amplifying systemic racism, and including the perceptions of Black and Brown residents of the city who do not feel comfortable speaking to the racism they experience in city limits, which Safer Lakewood is also insuring by its existence. Gun violence does need to be dealt with, but racism is not going to make it better. I won't feel safe in Lakewood until Black and Brown residents and their concerns regarding Madison Park and valid concerns about racism in city limits are addressed.