The Detroit Community Technology Project (DCTP) took a deep dive into the controversial Project Green Light (PGL) camera program run by the Detroit Police Department. The now ubiquitously blinking green lights dot every commercial corridor, the inside spaces of public and multi-family housing, and the inside of some businesses (with no blinking light). Concerns about the technology abound as the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) attempts to monitor all 256 cameras and facial recognition contracts get renewed by City Council.

The PGL program has no evidence that the program has had any meaningful impact on crime although it does often tout unverifiable statistics when working to get more businesses to install the technology. One assumption is that police response times might improve based on PGL locations, but the map included in the report shows there is still an obvious disparity in response time regardless of PGL use or non-use.