Not in our name.

That was the message from Falcon Heights area residents who attended the city council meeting Wednesday night. One week after a St. Anthony police officer shot and killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop on Larpenteur Avenue, the community members who spoke at City Hall said they don’t want their city known as a place where people of color routinely face police harassment and risk their lives when driving on city streets.

“I was devastated that our police killed someone in our name, in the name of protecting me,” said Philip Sellew of Falcon Heights. “I do not find that livable or acceptable.”

About two-dozen people attended the first regular council meeting since the shooting and nearly every one of them spoke, each one pressing the city to act urgently to make sure no one else dies in a similar interaction with police. Many said they understood that it could take months to determine whether the shooting was legally justifiable. But all seemed convinced already that the community should step away from the style of policing that led to last week’s fatal encounter.

Reacting to council members who said they needed more information before acting, resident after resident said that what they had learned in the past week was all the information they needed.

“I was devastated that our police killed someone in our name, in the name of protecting me. I do not find that livable or acceptable.”

“When I came here tonight, I planned to ask what concrete steps the city, the council had taken in the last week to make sure someone isn’t killed in the same way tonight,” said Stephen Carpenter of Falcon Heights. “I found it a little alarming that it sounds as if the council intends to do nothing anytime soon. I hope that’s in error.”

Some of the residents called for the city to prepare to end its contract with the St. Anthony Police Department, which has been patrolling Falcon Heights since 1995. The two cities are in the second year of their current five-year contract, and the Falcon Heights council approved a payment of $54,419 to St. Anthony on Wednesday for this month’s police services.

Residents at the meeting called on city leaders to begin work immediately to turn a tragic event into a call for action and a catalyst for change.

“I would be happy to pay more taxes … and to do whatever it takes to make this never happen again,” said Kristine Miller, a University of Minnesota faculty member who lives in St. Paul near Larpenteur Avenue.

Castile’s companion, Diamond Reynolds, who posted a live Facebook video shortly after the July 6 shooting, said during the stop that Castile, 32, told the officer he had a gun and was complying with a request for his license and registration when he was shot. An attorney for St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez said the officer was reacting to the presence and display of the gun when he opened fire.

Black Lives Matter St. Paul has called on Falcon Heights to terminate its contract with St. Anthony police, accusing the department of racial profiling. Wednesday night the group announced it would hold a protest at 1 p.m. Sunday at Rosedale Center because Falcon Heights hasn’t taken steps to end the contract.

A Rosedale Center spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Falcon Heights Mayor Peter Lindstrom and council members said they’ve heard stories of mistreatment at the hands of St. Anthony police in the past week. Several speakers said that had council members reached out more they would have been hearing such stories for years.

“I would like to express a little bit of skepticism that if this is the first time you are hearing about racism, if this is the first time that you are hearing about police stops and traffic stops and fear of police, you are not listening to your citizens,” said Joan Dao of Roseville, a University of Minnesota student. “I’m one of about three people of color in here and you don’t know anything about me.”

Lindstrom said he is committed to enlisting a wide group of citizens and experts to help review the city’s police work. He said he didn’t support immediate action but pledged that Wednesday’s forum would be the beginning of a process to enact change. He also said that after authorizing the city administrator to hire a public relations firm last week in an emergency meeting, the administration has opted not to hire anyone after all.

“I’m deeply upset and deeply hurt by what has happened in a community that I love, and I’m not OK with it,” Lindstrom said.