The Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration (MI-CEMI) has prepared this official statement to share our position on the use of surveillance technology as a public safety tool in Michigan cities, including majority Black and Brown cities such as Detroit, Flint, Southfield, Grand Rapids, Pontiac, Ypsilanti Township, among other cities. MI-CEMI does not support the use of surveillance technology by police departments and recognizes that attempts to surveil communities with various technologies are counter to the complex work of our member organizations. MI-CEMI member organizations and individuals are committed to de-carcerating our current punishment systems, developing front-end preventative approaches that deflect and divert people from involvement in the criminal legal systems, and building community-based alternatives to these punishment systems that have deeply harmed Black and Brown communities.
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