A half-dozen of Corktown’s most well-known establishments along Michigan Avenue have joined together to create the Detroit Police Department’s second Project Green Light Commercial Corridor.
The partners, located in Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, include the new Detroit Police Athletic League headquarters, McShane’s Irish Pub, Detroit Institute of Bagels, Ottava Via, Brooklyn Street Local and PJ’s Lager House. More are expected to follow.
Each business in the Corktown Project Green Light Commercial Corridor program has installed exterior cameras that feed live video back to the city’s Real Time Crime Center, which is staffed 24/7 by DPD personnel. Detroit PAL also has installed an interior camera near the public entrance.
“The Detroit Police Athletic League is excited to participate in the Green Light Program along with our Corktown neighborhood partners,” says Tim Richey, CEO of Detroit PAL. “We’re glad to help establish safe and walkable communities for everyone.”
Since becoming partners in the Green Light corridor McShane’s Irish Pub has seen a decrease in automobile break-ins, says owner Bob Roberts. “Our neighborhood police officers can’t say enough about the importance of the green light cameras as an investigative tool. They are working to make Michigan Avenue safer,” he says.
Since Project Green Light (PGL) was launched in January 2016 participating businesses received more than 50,000 special patrol visits from DPD this year alone. In the nearly three years since its inception, Project Green Light has spread from its initial eight gas stations to 425 participating businesses across the city, including restaurants, party stores, apartment buildings, car washes and more.
“Project Green Light is growing at its fastest pace since we launched it nearly three years ago,” says Mayor Mike Duggan. “That speaks to the success and popularity of the program in neighborhoods across the city and the positive impact it is having on our community.”
The Corktown partner businesses have entered into a three-year agreement to receive high-definition cameras (including installation and maintenance), cloud storage of video for up to 30 days and internet connectivity. Businesses may pay anywhere between $200 and $300 monthly for the services, depending on their size, the number of cameras and their Internet Service Provider.
Rocket Fiber, a Detroit-based fiber-optic internet and technology provider with a Data Center in the Corktown neighborhood, worked with a number of Corktown businesses to facilitate the installation of Green Light Cameras and internet connectivity. The company will provide ongoing service maintenance for those sites and other existing Rocket Fiber clients on Michigan Avenue.
Comcast, the largest Green Light provider, installed cameras and internet connection for the Detroit PAL headquarters and will continue to offer their services to all interested businesses on Michigan Avenue as the company is doing across the city.
In order to be considered a Green Light Corridor, at least five closely-situated businesses in a corridor must sign on as partners. A key incentive for businesses to join Project Green Light as a corridor is that they partner with neighboring businesses for greater camera coverage which makes the program financially accessible to more businesses.
As with all Green Light partners, video from corridor businesses will be monitored at the Detroit Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center. They also will receive regular visits from DPD officers.
“Project Green Light gives our business owners in the city of Detroit a platform to be involved in creating a safer environment for not only their patrons, but for all who live work and play in this city,” says Chief James Craig. “The Green Light Corridor partnership is another great example of how we can work together to help create a safe community for everyone.”
Each Green Light partner business has a flashing green light. Green Light Corridors have illuminated signs attached to light poles along the corridor. Individual Green Light locations are required to have high definition cameras inside and outside. Businesses along the Green Light Corridor – mostly bars and restaurants – will be required only to have them on the outside. Along the Michigan Avenue corridor, there are 20 cameras and five illuminated corridor signs. Camera placement is determined by DPD.
Corktown’s Michigan Avenue corridor is the second for Project Green Light. In January, 11 Greektown businesses joined to form the first PGL commercial corridor under a similar format.
For more information on Project Green Light Detroit, visit greenlightdetroit.org.
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