Project Greenlight links gas station cameras to Detroit police

The Detroit police unveiled a new high-tech plan to stop crime at gas stations around the city.

It is called Project Green Light and it gives Detroit police a direct link to security cameras at gas stations.

"It used to be you could walk down an alley at night," said resident Ann Taylor. "Now you don't want to walk down the street."

Ann Taylor has lived in Detroit all her life, but these days she's scared to get gas after dark.

Project Green Light Detroit is aiming to change all that with a whole lot of cameras and a direct feed to DPD.

One gas station alone has 32 cameras with another seven sending video to directly to Detroit police - basically they can see everything.

"They have access to these cameras 24 hours a day seven days a week," said Nasser Beydoun, gas station owner.

Police can access them, monitoring them from the real time crime center here at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters.

The gas station owners have spent $4,000 to $6,000 to install the cameras - and at the BP on Outer Drive at Harper, owner Abe Bazzi  has already noticed a difference. Detroit police has contacted him when they saw something strange instead of the other way around.

"The phone rings and it's the central station and they ask me 'is everything okay, we're watching you,'" Bazzi said.

Still some worry that even a direct video feed to Detroit police won't deter the criminals. But others say this could really make a difference when it comes to fighting crime...

"These cameras are very high definition cameras that allow the police to basically zoom in on license plates," Beydoun said. "They will (take) good facial recognition pictures so they provide the police with a great new tool for fighting crime in the city of Detroit."

Look for the green light and the signs, currently at eight gas stations throughout the city -  with more to come at gas stations and other area businesses.