The city of Detroit has spent 5.5 million dollars of taxpayer money to embed racist facial recognition technology across 700 Project Green Light cameras. The city says Project Green Light is meant to stop crime, instead it discriminates against communities in the United States’ blackest city. 

The city’s contract with Dataworks Plus–the key technology provider–ends in September 2022 and we have the opportunity to halt this surveillance project. The last time there was a vote to renew this project the city almost voted against it. This time around could be different but the Detroit community needs all the help they can get. 

The Detroit City Council decision is in the spotlight, let us show them that we are watching too. You can help push city council members on the fence to stop funding towards racist tech, and to reinvest that money into the community.

Tell Detroit’s City Council to support their residents, not surveil them

Project Green Light has kept residents of Detroit under the constant dread of being surveilled. The community wonders if they will be the next person falsely arrested.

On 9 January 2020, Robert Williams pulled up to his family home and was falsely arrested on his front lawn by Detroit Police who used Project Green Light’s flawed facial recognition algorithm. Robert Williams' case is just one of many.

Facial recognition technologies disproportionately affect marginalized peoples, including black and brown communties, undocumented, formerly incarcerated, unhoused, and the poor.

Despite a lawsuit from the ACLU and massive civil society uproar, Detroit’s Mayor and chief of police are committed to expanding Project Green Light.

Detroit officials, including the police, double down by applauding Project Green Light for reducing crime even though there is no evidence. Residents have instead called on the city to reinvest that money into the community which has been proven to reduce crime. 

Detroit is a litmus test for other majority black and brown cities. If Detroit is allowed to continue to build its surveillance project, other cities will follow suit.