Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved a $5 million expansion of the use of license plate readers across the city, using federal pandemic relief funds.
It’s the latest City Council vote on surveillance technology that has ignited debate in the community. Other surveillance tools Detroit police utilize include ShotSpotter — City Council last year OK’d spending $8.5 million on the gunshot detection technology amid fierce support and opposition — Project Green Light video surveillance and facial recognition technology…
With the city’s new contract with Motorola Solutions, an additional 100 cameras will be set up at 25 intersections, according to Detroit police. There are currently 83 cameras set up at intersections, in addition to over 100 mobile cameras.
The vast majority of community members who tuned in to Tuesday’s council vote urged their city leaders to approve the $5 million dollar contract in hopes that it could address speeding on Detroit’s roads — but using license plate readers for traffic and civil infractions goes against Detroit police policy.