Five hours into the Tuesday meeting, the council voted 5-4 on the expansion of the aerial gunfire detection system that uses sensors to pinpoint the locations of gunshot activity. Council Members Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Mary Waters, Angela Whitfield-Calloway and President Mary Sheffield voted against funding ShotSpotter.
Prior to the council vote, Detroit Police Chief James White made a last-minute plea for approval, arguing the gunfire detection system is one tool being used to try to fight shootings, some of which aren't reported by residents who have become used to frequent gunfire.
"We use that evidence to find out who was shooting," said White, adding there has been a 13% reduction in nonfatal shootings. "Last year, at the same time, there were 886 nonfatal shootings. This year, at the same time, 768 times someone has tried to kill someone and were unsuccessful. ... A rapid response needs to be in place.
⊳ More: Divisive ShotSpotter hears what Detroiters know too well: Bullets are flying
"In the last seven days, 11 people have died by gunfire in the city," he said.
At-large Council Member Coleman A. Young II, who voted to approve the expansion, rattled off statistics showing Las Vegas and Philadelphia had more than a 35% reduction in homicides after implementing ShotSpotter.
But opponents weren't convinced.
"We've heard from cities like Chicago that have the program that don't work ... and this is personal for me. If council is going to vote yes on ShotSpotter, we should vote yes (on) community resources, yes on truly affordable housing and yes (on) mental health resources," said Santiago-Romero, who added her office is investigating alternatives in Denver and Portland. "We have saved $7 million in pandemic relief dollars that we should use for those supportive services."
Waters said she could not support the expansion because data from the current pilot areas in the 8th and 9th Precincts do not show that it has positively affected crime rates, adding the community is "rightly fearful of the impacts it can have on our people."
"Cases from other localities show how the technology can be abused to infringe on citizens' First Amendment rights, and other localities are abandoning the technology because it has led to more negative police/community interactions," Waters said. " Detroit cannot afford to deploy this unproven and dangerous technology that could hurt those most vulnerable in our community while exposing the city to potentially millions in lawsuits."
Prior to the council's vote, White said there are no videos or voice recordings used with the system. Instead, ShotSpotter responds to a percussion of gunfire, he said. White argued that in some Detroit neighborhoods with high crime like in the 48205 ZIP code, residents have become desensitized to gunshots and have stopped calling police.
Waters asked White about how many false arrests are attributable to the system. He replied that there have been none.
Last month, the City Council approved a $1.5 million renewal of its current ShotSpotter system, which operates in two neighborhoods, and delayed voting on the $7 million expansion after a majority of public commenters at the meeting opposed the system aimed at combating crime in neighborhoods.
For the four-year $7 million contract, officials identified funding within Detroit police's criminal code enforcement budget for the gunfire detection system instead of using federal pandemic relief funds, which some council members previously identified as a problem. Another change included extending the expansion footprint area to include the 5th Precinct in council's District 4.
The police department told The Detroit News it hopes the ShotSpotter expansion areas will be live in about nine months or by July 4. Each area will be phased in as they're established by ShotSpotter.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has been advocating for ShotSpotter's expansion since his seventh State of the City address in March. Duggan and White introduced the expansion at the Mackinac Policy Conference in June, saying it is vital to address soaring gun violence in Michigan's largest city. However, the council vote was postponed six times while police vied to change the public's opinion.
Police initially requested $8.5 million with the intention of using $7 million in federal pandemic relief funds to expand the California-based system to now 10 additional areas around the city and $1.5 million from the department's general budget to continue the two existing systems ― one on the east side near Grosse Pointe and the other on the west side near Evergreen and Seven Mile.
Ahead of the Tuesday vote, a coalition of community organizations, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Detroit Justice Center, hosted a press conference outside of City Hall demanding the council vote against ShotSpotter funding and direct research and funding to "programs that actually improve public safety." More than 80 public commenters who spoke ahead of Tuesday's vote were divided on the issue.
Branden Snyder, co-executive director of Detroit Action, said the council's approval vote was a slap in the face to Detroit residents teetering on the precipice of homelessness, economic instability and joblessness.
"We are way past the point of reform," Snyder said. "The only way forward is to divert funding from our police departments and reallocate those funds into police alternative programs and services that actually keep us safe. We're calling on the mayor and council to offset their rash, harmful decisions by reinvesting in solutions to homelessness, recognizing and addressing root causes of violence, preserving and producing deeply affordable housing, increasing vital city services, and supporting arts and culture."
Tawana Petty, of Petty Propolis, a Black women-led artist incubator, said, "At what point does it become enough (surveillance)?"
" ShotSpotter is not designed in an equitable way. ... ShotSpotter sends angry police officers into communities when firecrackers or car backfires may be the only thing there," she said outside City Hall Tuesday prior to the vote.
White addressed Petty's comments by saying ShotSpotter cannot be solely used for police to initiate investigations or arrests.
"It's a very strong policy, and we are going to provide the police board of commissioners with a monthly report regarding ShotSpotter," said White, offering to issue reports to council members in their district so they can see if it's effective. "The accountability metrics for officers are in place. ... If misconduct happens, the result is termination. We cannot have any gray area."
Eric Williams with the Detroit Justice Center said the city's passage of the expansion would violate the Community Input Over Government Surveillance Ordinance, which council passed last year.
"What policies and procedures are in place in the instance of misuse?" Williams said. "The city has not done any of the things required by the ordinance, including (that) 'technology specification reports submitted for procurement of new surveillance technology shall be made available to the public, at a designated page on the city's website, where a public hearing is required at least 14 days prior to the public hearing.'"
However, some parents who have lost children to gun violence, such as Detronia Randall, advocated for the program to be expanded.
"That night, on July 10, my 14-year-old daughter, Kaniyah Bryant, was left for dead in a Riverfront apartment. We have the possibility to save other lives," Randall said.
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