The U.S. is currently in a state of unrest in light of the recent murders of Black people, and the lack of justice that has followed in their wake. On June 3rd, 2020, the Lexington Town Meeting members approved Article 16(a), passing a $125,000 plan to design a new firing range for police training with a 122-63 vote. This decision is in blatant disregard of Lexington protests against the unwarranted use of police force following the murder of George Floyd, including in our very own town center the day the vote took place.

We, the residents of Lexington condemn the use of our town’s resources and money to fund the construction of a new shooting range in our community.

The town of Lexington prides itself on being a peaceful community with a very low crime rate. The construction of a new facility to train our police officers will not make our community any safer than it already is. Instead, this will further harm those communities who are already most vulnerable to police misconduct, such as the Black community, People of Color, and Indigenous residents. 

Instead of allocating this money to police, we believe it can be more effectively used in other public services such as mental health, health, education and social work.

The signatures on this petition indicate the demands of Lexington Town residents, whose views should be represented by Town Meeting members. 

We demand that Town Meeting:

VOTES to override Article 16(a), thereby NOT funding the design of a new firing range.

DOES NOT proceed with the planned creation of a new firing range.

CONSIDERS reallocation of funds allotted to the design and creation of the range
The proposed range would cost $3-5 million to build. These funds could be re-allocated to a more suitable cause that provides more support towards the community.

We urge Lexington Town Meeting members, on behalf of the residents they represent, to reconsider this insensitive and counterproductive legislation.