Detroit community organizers share ShotSpotter civil liberty concerns

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Some community organizers discussed ShotSpotter changes wanting protection of Civil Liberties in writing recently.

As Detroit’s City Council prepares to again consider the expansion of ShotSpotter, FOX 2 caught up with Teferi Brent and Darryl Woods and Negus Vu, who lobbied for ShotSpotter policy changes.

"You cant use this as a tool of harassment," said Woods.

dpd is requiring that any investigation taking place in conjunction with a ShotSpotter run is based on at least individualized reasonable suspicion.

It’s barring any officers from requesting audio from shot spotter units in situations not involving a shots-fired investigation without first getting a warrant.

"We wanted to make sure that was (included) in policy, that it was in writing, and that people would be punished if they even thought about trying to harass someone with this policy," Woods added.

Their efforts stem from civil liberties concerns over the technology and some of its failures in other cities like Chicago.

"We saw that there was an instance where a gentleman was wrongly incarcerated for a year," Brent said. "He sat in the Cook County Jail and the only evidentiary piece of information that was used to incarcerate him was ShotSpotter."

City Council approved a $1.5 million renewal of the gunfire detection system in the 8th and 9th precincts on the west and east sides of the city last week, but postponed a vote on using $7 million in federal covid funds to expand it.

Many Detroiters who spoke at last Tuesday's meeting were dead set against it.

DPD plans to employ wraparound services in neighborhoods after 'spotter investigations.

Brent and Woods say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to violence and its why they’re plugging for more investments in community violence intervention efforts.

"Those brothers that have built relationships with gang members in the community, built relationships with the shooters, those brothers, and sisters who are actually out here on the front lines doing the real work to make sure our people are safe - that is where most of the money is to be invested," Brent said.

As for Tuesday’s vote.

"If the City Council wants to pass it, I will support their decision to pass it because those changes have been made to those policies," Brent said. "And those changes were born out of the concern for the people."