The Dearborn Heights City Council voted on Nov. 25 to renew a mobile-device extraction contract with Cellebrite Inc. and to include unlocking capability, authorizing $15,535 from the police forfeiture account for the service.

Captain Guzzi of the police department told council members that relying on the State Police or neighboring departments to unlock phones can take months and slow investigations. "The turnaround time for the State Police is about 3 to 4 months right now," he said, adding that immediate access is vital in assault, homicide, school-threat and terrorism cases. Council members and the mayor discussed the trade-off between public-safety needs and the declining forfeiture-account balance (the account balance was stated as $191,124 in the backup materials).

Councilman Saab argued for the upgrade to reduce dependence on outside agencies; other members—while supportive of investigative capability—asked staff to be cautious about expendable forfeiture funds. The council approved the motion to include unlocking capability and authorized the mayor and comptroller or clerk to sign the contract and issue payment from the forfeiture account.

Officials said the department only unlocked about 13 phones in the past two years through outside partners, but staff and the captain said having in-house capability would shorten investigative timelines. The mayor and staff signaled they would continue to monitor the forfeiture fund and prioritize safety-sensitive uses.

The contract term was discussed as expiring Nov. 17, 2026 in the backup; council approved the upgraded option in a voice vote during the meeting.