DETROIT (WXYZ) — The city of Detroit is expected to spend tens of millions of dollars to install more freeway cameras to help track people suspected of crimes.
Detroit police say they started taking a closer look at freeway shootings back in 2021 and found those crimes are very difficult to solve.
Fast forward to today, Detroit freeways like the Lodge are expected to be outfitted with cameras and license plate readers as a result of $30 million in state funding.
“I did have a relative that passed away in a freeway shooting,” Leonard Bates said.
Bates never leaves home without a memory of his cousin Bernard Waller close by: an obituary sits on his dashboard.
Waller, the victim of a shooting on I-96, died in February 2021.
While his alleged killer was caught, Bates says he’s on board with the city’s proposal to install cameras and license plate readers on Detroit freeways to address such incidents.
“Because people would think twice about committing those type of crimes,” Bates said.
According to the Detroit Police Department, the department and the mayor’s office submitted the proposal for the technology to the state Legislature.
State Rep. Karen Whitsett says she advocated for the $30 million in state funding to make it a reality in the near future.
“That was a hard mountain to climb to get people to understand the importance of it and how it makes a difference,” Whitsett said. “I’m right here where there’s been two shootings. I’m at 96 and Schaefer (Highway), right at Schaefer and Grand River (Avenue).”
Whitsett says the technology is simply about cutting and solving crime.
“This is not about anybody’s privacy being invaded. This is about this is an incident, this happened, we can zero in, we can track this person, we can get that license plate,” she said.
Bates said, “Hopefully, they use them for the right thing and not petty traffic citation.”
DPD Assistant Chief David LeValley says it's unclear if Detroit police or state police would manage the cameras. But he addressed concerns of possible misuse as the city looks monitor to 86 miles of freeway.
“Our proposal is to use them strictly for violent felony cases,” LeValley said.
LeValley says the cameras would not be used for traffic enforcement, misdemeanor investigations, facial recognition or looking in vehicles. He also says the camera footage would be erased within a certain time period.
"It is something that we hope will cause people to change their thought process," LeValley said.
A time frame for when you might see those cameras start popping up is still being determined.
