DETROIT (WXYZ) — People living in some Detroit neighborhoods could soon see more license plate readers.
Tuesday, Detroit's city council voted 7-2 to approve allocating $5 million to the Detroit Police Department to deploy more license plate readers. Police say the technology would be used strictly for things like locating stolen vehicles, locating amber alert vehicles and missing people and supporting active investigations.
The technology already exists in several intersections across the city. The police department has been working for months to get the technology added to dozens more intersections but are keeping the locations of current and future readers confidential to prevent vandalism and improve effectiveness.
"My car has almost gotten stolen," said Renee Benson who lives in Detroit. "I actually think it’s ridiculous. People work hard for their money and insurance is very high. We get our car stolen, it’s hard for us to even get money back."
Benson says while she supports additional safety in the city, she does have concerns about the license plate reader technology being used inappropriately.
"I think it could help in one sense to monitor the car theft. Then on the other hand people are worried are you going to spy on me? Are you watching me," said Benson. "I hope they utilize it for just what they say they’re going to utilize it for. Don’t use it against people either."
The Detroit Police Department says the readers would not be used to check immigration status of drivers, issue tickets or for facial recognition. The readers would also not store any data past 90 days.
For neighbors like Marian Stephens, the addition of the readers makes sense.
"They make all this noise and then they do those donut things. At first I didn’t know what was going on," said Stephens of her neighborhood traffic. "There’s nothing we can do. We can call but police have things (to do) that are far more important."
Stephens says she's lived in her neighborhood near West Grand Boulevard and Linwood Street for more than 60 years and has served on her neighborhood's block club for the last 30 years.
She says in the last two years at least four neighbors on her block have had their cars stolen. She's also seen lots of reckless driving and street racing, sometimes in broad daylight.
"I think any technology that will help us to keep our streets safer would be an addition," said Stephens.
Detroit Police Chief James White says the technology has already proved to be integral in several cases including the kidnapping of a 2-year-old from her Lansing home in July.
Police say through license plate reader technology and Detroit's Green Light cameras, they were able to track the suspect vehicle to the east side of the state, canvass the area and find the body of Wynter Cole Smith.
At Tuesday's meeting, Council member Angela Whitfield-Calloway requested that Detroit police consider installing the readers near John R. Road and East State Fair where she says she receives countless calls about illegal street racing and reckless driving.
Neighbors there say they’re hoping the readers will result in positive changes.
"Any kind of security helps to alleviate any kind of crime in the area. You want to be as safe as possible. So, if it helps, I’m all for it," said Curtis Eason who owns a food truck near the intersection.
