DETROIT RESIDENTS CONCERNED ABOUT TRAFFIC CAMERA EXPANSION

Detroit officials’ plan to install 200 more traffic light-mounted cameras at city intersections is facing community resistance amid privacy and racial discrimination concerns.

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The 200 additional cameras would build off of an initial 121-camera pilot program and bring the technology to more than 300 of Detroit’s 787 traffic lights by October 2021, Dayo Akinyemi, of the city’s Department of Public Works, said during a presentation on the expansion plans.

But Detroit resident Christopher Williams Shah said during that public meeting that the community wants assurances police won’t misuse the 200 extra cameras, resulting in Black men landing in jail.

“I’m going to say it straight out. What I see occurring is this being used to target Black males in Detroit,” he said. “Police are visual predators in Detroit.”

The debate centering Detroit’s traffic camera expansion — which would cost $2.5 million — comes as tensions persist over privacy and policing in the city, The Detroit News reported.