(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/05/23) Detroit will receive $30 million to install freeway cameras in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget, which will automatically collect license plate information to assist the city's police department in investigating highway shootings and other serious crimes.
"We had shootings and shot-fired incidents and crimes occurring on the freeway and found that it is very difficult to identify the suspects in those types of crimes…people are traveling at a high rate of speed, something happens (and) they're not thinking about getting a license plate (number)," David LeValley, the Detroit Police Department's (DPD's) assistant chief, told MIRS. "Somebody can quickly escape the area without being detected."
According to numbers relayed by Fox 2 Detroit, the Michigan State Police (MSP) recorded that 59 freeway shootings occurred in 2021 and 12 took place in the first five months of 2022.
In the FY '24 omnibus budget bill, HB 4437, which awaits the Governor's signature, the $30 million appropriation was part of a $171.1 million one-time public safety grant program, paid for by the General Fund.
The freeway camera – or automatic license plate reader – investment for the DPD was one of 208 preselected projects to be awarded a total of $764.6 million in grant money within the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity's (LEO's) incoming budget.
"The freeways are pretty large in the city of Detroit…there's a lot of freeways, a lot of miles of freeways, a lot of entrance and exit ramps…so it just gives us the ability to tackle that area where we didn't have the funding available from the city to be able to do that," LeValley said. "Now that we know that there's money that's been allocated to it, we can get more into the next step of specifics on exactly where we'll start and what our rollout plan will be."
LeValley anticipates that the camera purchases will be subjected to the city's Community Input Over Government Surveillance (CIOGS) ordinance, requiring technology acquisitions to be approved by the Detroit City Council and for a specification report to be made publicly available.
The city council would be expected to hold a public hearing about its decision to authorize an acquisition, although the ordinance's language does permit the use of "unapproved surveillance technology in exigent circumstances."
"We report to the city council the various types of surveillance equipment that we use and where we deploy it," LeValley said, adding that information gathered through the department's preexisting surveillance technology can be held onto for 30 to 60 days.
Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have raised concerns over automatic license plate readers. The ACLU specifically published a July 2013 report titled: "You Are Being Tracked," finding that for every 1 million plates read in Maryland, 47 were possibly affiliated with more serious crimes, such as a wanted person, a stolen vehicle or a violent gang or terrorist organization.
Knowing the automatic license plate readers would have footage deleted over a specific period of time, as well as that a facial recognition feature would not be included, helped Sen. Megan Cavanagh with becoming more comfortable with the appropriation.
"We're not going to go after immigration or traffic violations, and that's just not the premise of why we all agree – or why people agree – to these cameras," said Cavanagh, chair of the Senate Appropriations LEO subcommittee. "We also need to understand that a lot of the things that we do are already being tracked, and I know that's not the best argument, but everyone that has MapQuest or their phone…there is technology that is kind of keeping an eye on everybody."
Cavanagh said she doesn't want to be a Big Brother, but if taking advantage of pre-existing technology helps to save one life, one missing child or a family experiencing a crisis due to a domestic issue, "I think it's really worth it."
LeValley said his department isn't going to sit around watching the cameras to see who's speeding or committing a misdemeanor on the freeway.
"This is about making people aware that there is this technology out there, so if they're thinking about firing a gun at somebody who's driving on the freeway, they might think twice," LeValley said, explaining that after contacting police chiefs throughout Southeast Michigan, "I didn't talk to any of them that didn't support it…so I could see this just being the starting point and then eventually, it expands."
Former lawmaker Adam Hollier, a Detroit Democrat, called for legislators to consider funding highway surveillance cameras in Fall 2022 after having a gun pointed directly at him while driving on I-94.
LeValley mentioned that, in the area close to the sporting stadiums in downtown Detroit, a bicyclist was hit by a car and severely injured. Meanwhile, the driver of the vehicle turned right and got onto the expressway.
"There's no telling where they went. They could have gone 20-30 miles away and you know, the reality is (that) we'll never solve that crime," LeValley said. "Had there been license plate readers or cameras on the freeways, we would have been able to get the information we needed to likely lead us to the individual."
