Gas station owner Mohammad Rustam
Project Green Light, which began in January, has been touted by the city of Detroit as a way to crack down on crime in gas stations, which have been a magnet for everything from shoplifting to murder.
How it works is that stations pay a $160 monthly service fee and a $1,000 installation fee for cameras that are monitored by the Detroit Police department. The stations prominently display a sign saying they are participants of the program.
The expectation is that it will be a deterrent for crime, and when it is not, police will respond in real time, or at least shortly after the crime, and make an arrest.
Mohammad Rustam, who owns a Valero gas station on Schoolcraft on the city's west side, tells WDIV's Jason Colthorp the system is "not protecting nobody."
Last Wednesday, a clerk spotted a shoplifter trying to walk out with some laundry detergent in his pocket and locked the doors. The man ended up kicking the door open and walking off.
The next night, one man held the door open while another snatched up about a dozen plastic containers of motor oil and walked out.
Thief stealing motor oil.
“Two days in a row we are getting robbed,” Rustam tells WDIV. “And I have a camera inside the store where Detroit police are supposed to be watching it -- live.”
“We’re paying every month,” Rustam said. “So if the police is watching, what are they doing for us?”
“They need to step up and they need to get these guys off the street. But right now, to me, it's just like a blinking green light. It don't mean shit. It's not protecting nobody.”
Police tell WDIV that they were monitoring the situation live and are reviewing the tapes, hoping to make arrests.
