Take action
You do not need a title or a law degree. You need to know which meeting matters, when it's happening, and what to say. Here is the whole playbook — plain and practical.
Upcoming public meetings
City Council and the Board of Police Commissioners hold open meetings where residents can learn, ask questions, and share their perspective. Everyone is welcome.
Detroit City Council and its committees are on recess through August 31. Detroit City Council meets again Tuesday, September 1.
Board of Police Commissioners
Thursday, August 13
6:30 PM
Wayne County Community College District — Eastern Campus
5901 Conner St, Detroit, MI 48213
This month the Board meets on the east side instead of downtown. Evening meeting, open to everyone — comment cards at the sign-in desk, two minutes each.
Board of Police Commissioners
Thursday, August 20
3:00 PM
Detroit Public Safety Headquarters
1301 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48226
The civilian board that oversees police policy. Fill out a comment card at the sign-in desk and you get two minutes during Oral Communications. Unlike Council, the Board meets straight through the summer.
Board of Police Commissioners
Thursday, August 27
3:00 PM
Detroit Public Safety Headquarters
1301 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48226
The civilian board that oversees police policy. Fill out a comment card at the sign-in desk and you get two minutes during Oral Communications. Unlike Council, the Board meets straight through the summer.
Detroit City Council
Tuesday, September 1
10:00 AM
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center · Erma L. Henderson Auditorium, 13th Floor
2 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226
Council votes on the contracts and budgets behind nearly every system described on this site. It's an open meeting — come listen, learn how the process works, and speak during public comment.
Internal Operations Committee
Wednesday, September 2
10:00 AM
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center · Committee of the Whole Room
2 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226
Oversees the Law department, the Inspector General, the City Clerk and the Department of Innovation and Technology — the department that buys and runs the city's technology.
Budget, Finance & Audit Committee
Wednesday, September 2
1:00 PM
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center · Committee of the Whole Room
2 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226
Holds the budget and the Auditor General. Every contract described on this site is ultimately a line in a budget reviewed here.
Planning & Economic Development Committee
Thursday, September 3
10:00 AM
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center · Committee of the Whole Room
2 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226
Zoning, land use and the city's development authorities. Where a data center or industrial proposal is examined before it reaches a Council vote.
Neighborhood & Community Services Committee
Thursday, September 3
1:00 PM
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center · Committee of the Whole Room
2 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226
Recreation, libraries, senior services, homelessness coordination and the neighborhood city halls — the services side of the same budget.
You don't need to be an expert — just curious and present. Times and rooms can change; confirm on the official agenda before you go.
Under Detroit's 2021 surveillance ordinance (CIOGS), the police must publicly post a Surveillance Technology Specification Report at least 14 days before any meeting where a new technology is discussed. If that report isn't posted on time, the purchase is unlawful — and in October 2025 a Michigan appeals court ruled, in a published decision, that the city violated this exact rule on ShotSpotter. Watching this clock, and saying so on the record, is how residents have already won.
Precedent, stated precisely: in Eagan v. City of Detroit (Michigan Court of Appeals, October 2025 — a published, precedential decision), the court found the city broke the CIOGS ordinance by failing to post the ShotSpotter spec report at least 14 days before the Council meetings that approved it. One thing to get right, because it's widely misreported: the court did NOT cancel the ShotSpotter contract — it sent the case back to the Wayne County trial court to decide the remedy. The lesson for residents is the useful part: the 14-day rule has real legal teeth, and the city can be held to the timeline.
Read the CIOGS ordinance ↗The path
Under Detroit's CIOGS surveillance ordinance (Ordinance 2021-17, city code §§17-5-451–459), DPD must first prepare a public Surveillance Technology Specification Report (STSR) — what the tech does, how it's deployed, how long data is kept, the safeguards, the disparate-impact risk, and the cost.
That review must be posted publicly at least 14 days before any meeting where the purchase is discussed. This is the single most important deadline for residents — and a court has already ruled the city violated it before.
The 11-member civilian board shapes and approves DPD's use policy. This is the earlier, less-crowded place to slow something down.
Council approves the contract and the budget. No appropriation, no technology. This is the binding chokepoint — and where a public hearing is required before acquisition.
Approved technologies must be reported on every year. Accountability doesn't end at the vote — it's something residents can keep demanding.
Where to show up
Meeting times and the post-2025-election roster can change — confirm the current details on each official page before you go.
Civilian oversight of DPD — policy, rules, budget, complaints. The earliest place to shape police technology.
Approves contracts, budgets, and ordinances — the binding vote on any surveillance technology. The Public Health & Safety Committee vets policing items.
Beyond City Hall
The data centers and your electric bill aren't a City Council vote at all — they run through state regulators and the Legislature. Three levers most people never use:
Many of the biggest decisions — the data centers, your electric bill — aren't made at City Hall at all, but by the Michigan Public Service Commission. Anyone can comment in an MPSC case: find the case number (the DTE Saline data-center case is U-21990), search the MPSC E-Dockets, and submit — or email mpscedockets@michigan.gov citing the case number. Comments become part of the official record.
Contact your state legislators (find them at legislature.mi.gov) about the utility, data-center, and surveillance bills moving in Lansing — and the 2026 ballot measures.
File a Michigan FOIA request (MCL 15.231): the city must respond within 5 business days (with one 10-day extension), and an indigency affidavit makes the first $20 free. DPD posts its ShotSpotter spec reports — but not, as of now, its Flock/plate-reader or facial-recognition ones, which makes those a useful thing to request.
Before any vote
Watch the 14-day clock. If the STSR isn't posted 14 days before a hearing, that's a legal violation — say so on the record.
Find the item early on Legistar — search the vendor's name (Flock, Skydio, ShotSpotter, DataWorks).
FOIA the contract, the use policy, and the safety review if they aren't posted.
Show up at the Board of Police Commissioners first to shape the policy.
Then show up at City Council — the committee and the formal session — where the binding vote happens.
Lobby your own district commissioner and council member by name; reference the contract number.
Bring written comment too, and submit it by email — speaking and writing both count.
Coordinate with the organizations already doing this work. You don't have to start from scratch.
Michigan's Freedom of Information Act applies to the city and DPD. Ask for the contract, the use policy, and the safety review. Contracts and legislation are also searchable without a FOIA on the city's Legistar portal.
Helpful resources
These groups research these topics and can be good places to learn more or get involved. Your city officials are a resource too — they're listed above.
Nonprofit law firm focused on civil rights and technology policy in Detroit.
Visit ↗Community-based group that researches technology, data, and equity in Detroit.
Visit ↗Tracks civil-liberties and technology questions, including at City Council and the Board of Police Commissioners.
Visit ↗Statewide multiracial organizing infrastructure in civil-rights coalitions.
Visit ↗Member-led economic and racial-justice organizing; trains community organizers.
Visit ↗Show up when it counts
The most powerful thing a resident can do is be present before the vote. Subscribe and we'll email you ahead of every City Council session, Police Commissioners meeting, and public hearing that shapes our city.
