Detroit Looking to Boost Surveillance Infrastructure

Detroit Looking to Boost Surveillance Infrastructure

Detroit is pumping millions of dollars into its surveillance networks, hoping to cut down on crime in the city.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Mar 20, 2019

The City of Detroit will soon be working on an expansion of their surveillance network with the addition of millions of dollars worth of security cameras, viewing stations and programs to cut down on crime. 

 The plan, which was unveiled by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, would link 500 traffic cameras to the Project Green Light system—a major ramp up for the 3-year-old program—as well as allow $3 million in bonds to be spent to set up a first round of roadside cameras and two additional mini Real Time Crime Centers, a location where the footage can be viewed by those authorized. 

An additional $9 million in federal and state transportation funds will go toward putting 400 streaming cameras at intersections throughout the city. The cameras are designed to monitor traffic trends, but police will be allowed to pull footage if needed in a case.

Duggan hopes that the expansion plans will help in reducing crime and helping Detroit police catch suspects.

"If you're engaged in a shoot, you're engaged in a carjacking, we're going to track you," Duggan said. "We will get shots of the perps as they go pass and we'll be able to chase them down. We're going to make people make different decisions."

Many residents of Detroit wonder if the expansion plan for surveillance cameras makes a difference in the crime rate for the city. City officials and Detroit police can point to at least three specific occasions in the last year where green light cameras were able to capture high-definition footage of suspects in an open case.

When asked about the frequency of these particular events, Detroit Police Chief James Craig could only say it was "definitely not in the hundreds."

The city will be putting together a proposal to limit those who can access the footage and how long it will be stored for. The city said that so far, only the Detroit Police Department is using it, and Project Green Light's memorandum of understanding with its business partners suggests the footage is only stored for 30 days.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Motorola Solutions Named Official Safety Technology Supplier of the Ryder Cup through 2027

    Motorola Solutions has today been named the Official Safety Technology Supplier of the 2025 and 2027 Ryder Cup, professional golf’s renowned biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.