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Council asks administration for cost–benefit review of surveillance contracts including license-plate readers
Summary
Members approved closing-resolution language urging a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis of surveillance technology contracts, including license-plate readers, and asked the administration to consider redirecting funds to evidence-based public-health strategies where appropriate.
The expanded budget committee on April 1 approved closing-resolution language urging the administration and Detroit Police Department to conduct an immediate, comprehensive cost–benefit analysis of existing surveillance-technology contracts, with particular attention to automatic license-plate readers.
Member Denzel McCampbell proposed the language, saying systems that fail to demonstrate clear, measurable and independently verified public-safety benefits should be discontinued and funding redirected toward evidence-based public-health programs proven to reduce violent and property crime. Members discussed whether the review should also include predictive-policing algorithms and other AI-derived uses of collected data; McCampbell and others confirmed the motion’s language was intended to cover both hardware and data-use policies.
The committee carried the closing-resolution addition with no recorded objections. Members requested the administration return findings and recommendations so the council can determine whether contract renewals or reallocations are warranted.
