Detroit, MI – On September 23, the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, together with other community groups in the city, demonstrated outside of a city council community meeting for a city ordinance guaranteeing the release of police body-worn camera footage.

Arriving an hour before the start of the meeting, demonstrators held signs, chanted and marched in picket formation in front of Fellowship Chapel, where the meeting was to take place. Demonstrators chanted, “When killer cops are on patrol, what’s the answer? Community control!” and “If the law is on your side, what do you have to hide?”

Once the meeting began, several of the demonstrators went inside to make public comments about a version of the body-cam ordinance currently in consideration by city council, which was heavily watered down from the community’s original demands.

“Let me state plainly: the ordinance currently before you is a significantly weakened version of what was originally proposed,” said Marcel Ulacia, of the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, “It does not meet the needs of the people of Detroit.”

“We’ve asked repeatedly to sit down with the council to discuss the ordinance and come to some sort of understanding of what all parties are trying to accomplish,” said Victoria Camille, of the Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability, “that sit-down did not happen and now the ordinance you are considering is nowhere near what was presented to you.”

After the meeting, demonstrators handed out flyers and discussed the ordinance with community members who had attended the event, who expressed support for the demands laid out by the demonstrators.

#DetroitMI #MI #InJusticeSystem #DAARPR #NAARPR

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