Editing Lafayette, Louisiana (section)

==Government==
[[File:Lafayette Parish Courthouse.jpg|thumb|Lafayette Parish Courthouse]]
[[File:Sculpture "Urns of Justice" at exterior entrance plinith of the John M. Shaw U.S. Courthouse, Lafayette, Louisiana LCCN2010720399.tif|thumb|John M. Shaw U.S. Courthouse]]
Lafayette has a consolidated city–parish government, known as the Lafayette Consolidated Government;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Welcome to Lafayette|url=https://www.lafayettela.gov/|access-date=2021-11-29|website=Lafayette Consolidated Government}}</ref> parish voters agreed to [[consolidated city-county|consolidation]] of the city and parish governments in 1996.<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":20" /> Lafayette's chief executive was initially called the city-parish president, but is now known as the mayor-president for the Lafayette Consolidated Government. [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Monique Blanco-Boulet was elected to this office most recently.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-11-18|title=Monique Blanco Boulet defeats Josh Guillory in Lafayette mayor-president's race|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/politics/elections/boulet-defeats-guillory-in-lafayette-mayor-presidents-race/article_44413e28-8328-11ee-b64e-ab960ddec017.html#:~:text=Monique%20Blanco%20Boulet%2C%20daughter%20of,in%20a%20runoff%20election%20Saturday.}}</ref>

The consolidation of the city and parish has been the subject of continuous public debate over the years. In 2011, a charter commission recommended deconsolidation, though parish voters rejected the recommendation. In 2018, voters separated the single city–parish council into a city council to represent the city of Lafayette and a parish council to represent Lafayette Parish. The mayor-president is still elected parishwide. In 2021, the city council passed a resolution calling for another charter commission to look at amendments to the charter and, if necessary, deconsolidation. The Lafayette Parish Council did not agree to the charter commission proposal.<ref name=":21" /> Public works and other services, such as land use and plat review, are operated by the Lafayette Consolidated Government to serve the city of Lafayette and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish, and by contract some of the area municipalities. Zoning rules apply only within the city and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish.<ref name="Zoning">{{cite journal|last1=Brand|first1=Anna|last2=Villavaso|first2=Stephen|title=REVISITING PALERMO: THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF LOUISIANA'S LANDMARK LAND USE RIGHTS AND ZONING DECISION AND ITS LEGACY FOR PLANNING IN LOUISIANA.|journal=Loyola Law Review|date=Spring 2011|volume=57|issue=1|pages=113–133}}</ref>

Some neighboring municipalities have adopted their own planning and zoning protocols. The suburban and rural cities and towns maintain independent city councils, local executives, police and fire departments, and other public services. The LPSS operates independently of any municipality, and its jurisdiction is coterminous with Lafayette Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://esbstaff.lpssonline.com/attachments/de0d01b0-43d1-4833-b56d-7219cc39b6da.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121005744/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:63QSyRKnS3UJ:esbstaff.lpssonline.com/attachments/de0d01b0-43d1-4833-b56d-7219cc39b6da.doc+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 21, 2016 |title=Intergovernmental Agreement |access-date=2017-07-20}}</ref>

Lafayette is home to a regional office of the [[Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality]], and the headquarters of the [[Council for the Development of French in Louisiana]], the state agency that oversees preservation and documentation of Louisiana French for tourism, economic development, culture, education, and the development of international relations with other Francophone regions and countries.<ref>"{{cite web |url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/culture/ |title=CRT - Office of Cultural Development |access-date=2013-07-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707134249/http://www.crt.state.la.us/culture/ |archive-date=2013-07-07 }}." CODOFIL. Retrieved on July 8, 2013.</ref>

=== Public safety ===
The city of Lafayette is primarily served by the [[Lafayette Police Department (Louisiana)|Lafayette Police Department]], though the [[Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office]], [[Lafayette City Marshal (Louisiana)|Lafayette City Marshal]], and [[University of Louisiana at Lafayette Police Department|University of Louisiana Police Department]] maintain jurisdiction throughout the city and surrounding area. Following [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|nationwide COVID-19 trends]] from 2019 to 2020,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mamone|first=Davide|title=Violent crime and homicides increase in Lafayette, following state, national trends|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/crime_police/article_e151d1c2-218d-11ec-8f9b-8b79d5414fea.html|access-date=2021-12-07|website=The Acadiana Advocate|date=October 2021 |publisher=The Advocate|language=en}}</ref> Lafayette has experienced a rise in violent crimes per the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. In 2020, the city experienced 712 violent crimes up from 664 in 2019; according to a professor of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, violent crime was decreasing prior to the pandemic. In 2018 the city experienced 9 homicides, and 17 in 2020; for comparison, there were 195 [[Crime in New Orleans|homicides in New Orleans]] in 2020, and 100 in Baton Rouge.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Killings, shootings soared in 2020, one of New Orleans' bloodiest years since Katrina|url=https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_ad846f9a-4b7c-11eb-8937-f3b1be3eebaa.html|access-date=2021-12-07|website=NOLA.com|date=January 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kemker|first=Austin|title=Baton Rouge sees record number of homicides in 2020|url=https://www.wafb.com/2021/01/05/baton-rouge-sees-record-number-homicides/|access-date=2021-12-07|website=WAFB|date=7 January 2021 |publisher=Gray Television|language=en}}</ref> Altogether, Lafayette ranked as the 20th safest city overall in Louisiana, and the safest of Louisiana's four largest municipalities in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Romero|first=Michaela|date=2021-10-01|title=LIST: Safest cities in Louisiana ranked|url=https://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/state-news/louisiana/list-safest-cities-in-louisiana-ranked/|access-date=2021-12-07|website=ArkLaTexHomepage|publisher=Nexstar Media|language=en-US}}</ref>