‘The streets is watching’: Detroit ramps up surveillance technology on highways

We have one more week left of budget hearings, and together with BridgeDetroit, we’re reporting on all of them. Check out the complete rundown .

If you’ve been following these budget hearings, you may have heard Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield saying some items will be “added to executive session.” Councilmembers hold executive sessions after the public hearings end to deliberate. The sessions are public and provide an opportunity for the council to make amendments to the proposed budget before approving it.

In their regular session last week, City Council approved $19.5 million in contracts to add surveillance technology to the city’s freeways in an effort to crack down on violent crime. The council is also getting ready to vote on an ordinance designed to thwart human trafficking in the city.

The Highland Park City Council (finally) did finalize an agreement with the Great Lakes Water Authority and appointed an interim treasurer .

Budget

Councilmembers heard from the Building, Safety Engineering, and Environment Department (BSEED) and the Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department (CRIO) in back-to-back budget hearings.

Councilmembers were concerned about code enforcement at BSEED. Director David Bell said BSEED holds property owners accountable through ticketing, but according to the Department of Appeals, the collection rate on blight tickets in 2023 was only 16%.

Similarly, councilmembers were concerned businesses aren’t meeting a 2021 executive order requiring certain publicly funded construction projects to have 51% of their workers be Detroit residents. CRIO Deputy Director Tenika Griggs confirmed that on average, closer to 22% of workers in these construction projects have been Detroiters. Griggs said construction sites that fail to meet the hiring requirements receive fines but aren’t shut down.

Councilmembers questioned whether thousands of dollars in fines is a strong enough deterrent. Councilmember Coleman Young II said “bad actors” will merely view the tickets and fines as a cost of doing business.

3/20/2024 Detroit City Council, Budget Hearings: BSEED; CRIO, documented by Amy Senese and Tyrone Anderson

Both the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) and the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) outlined ambitious plans during Friday’s budget hearings while seeking to reassure City Council that progress was underway.

DWSD has moved into Phase 2 of the Basement Backup Protection Program and the replacement of lead service lines continues, but the Brightmoor Stormwater Improvement Project remains bogged down in land ownership issues. The department also expressed frustrations with customers not paying for service or participating in the 10/30/50 Payment Plan .

DDOT highlighted the increase in funding to hire 117 more bus drivers, the opening of the Jason Hargrove Transit Center at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds site and the installation of bus shelters. Safety remains a concern, with Interim Executive Director Michael Staley saying preventable accidents occur with DDOT buses at rates three times higher than the national standard.

Councilmembers were generally supportive of the agency, but they raised concerns with inaccurate bus tracking and an app that makes purchasing tickets difficult. They also questioned a lack of uniformity in bus signs.

3/22/2024 Detroit City Council Budget Hearings: DWSD and DDOT, documented by Perry Sylvester and Shiva Shahmir

Politics

3/18/2024 Highland Park City Council: Councilmembers approved the final settlement agreement resolving Highland Park’s outstanding water debt. The council also appointed Lisa Stolarski temporarily to the position of city treasurer and scheduled a special primary election on Aug. 6 for the position.

Documented by Amy Senese and Jen David

For more updates on Highland Park, watch Mayor Glenda McDonald’s 2024 State of the City Address .

3/19/2024 Detroit City Council, Formal Session: City Council approved spending $19.5 million from a state grant to fund contracts for surveillance technology intended to mitigate violent crimes on Detroit freeways.

Documented by Meghan Rutigliano and Shannon Mackie

For more on City Council, check out Malachi Barrett’s City Council Notebook at BridgeDetroit.

Education

3/19/2024 Detroit Public Schools Community District, Regular Board Meeting: Board members spent more than two hours in closed session prior to hearing public comment. Several commenters appeared to have left by the time they were called on. The district will not pursue an investigation into the principal at Thirkell Elementary-Middle School.

Documented by Amber Umscheid and Zaara Noor

Read more in Detour Detroit for more information on the investigation into the principal at Thirkell.

Transportation

3/20/2022 Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA), Board of Directors: Board members quickly approved contracts. Tadarial Sturdivant, the authority’s senior vice president of public safety, said the Detroit Metro Airport Fire Department responded to 9% more calls last year than in 2022, and the Detroit Metro Airport Police Department responded to 25% more calls last year than in 2021.

Documented by A J Johnson and Nathaniel Eichenhorn

Policing

3/21/2024 Detroit Board of Police Commissioners: The board asked the police department for a missing persons report and approved promotions of several police officers to higher ranks. Commissioners also hired two new investigators for the board, pending background checks, and reposted job listings for six more.

Documented by Gina McPherson and Pamela Taylor

For more on the Board of Police Commissioners, check out the latest BOPC Watch .

This story was written by Outlier Media’s Lynelle Herndon and Noah Kincade and Detroit Documenters Amber Umscheid, Meghan Rutigliano and Perry Sylvester.

The post ‘The streets is watching’: Detroit ramps up surveillance technology on highways appeared first on Outlier Media .