Dearborn Residents Offer Free Brake Light Repairs

On Saturday, April 17th from 11am to 3pm EST, motorists can have their brake and headlights assessed and replaced at Accountability for Dearborn's Free Brake Light Repair Clinic. The event will be located in the parking lot of the Dearborn Free Methodist Church and is open to the public. Entrance to the lot is one block east of Telegraph Road on Westpoint Street.

Accountability for Dearborn's Free Brake Light Repair Clinic demonstrates that community resources can address public safety concerns using a model of care, not punishment. This isn't a pipe dream. It is based in the very real violence many residents, especially Black residents, face daily.

On April 11, 2021, Minneapolis police murdered Duante Wright after being pulled over for a traffic violation. These same police murdered Philando Castile in 2016 after pulling him over for a traffic violation. The Baltimore police murdered Korryn Gaines in 2016 after pulling her over for a traffic violation warrant. Austin police murdered Javier Ambler in 2019 after pulling him over for a traffic violation.

When drivers do not receive proactive help to ensure their vehicles are in tip top condition, they are directly at risk.

This Brake Light Repair Clinic is critical in Dearborn. Accountability for Dearborn's police arrest and ticket data analysis shows explicit anti-Black racism and class based policing. The Dearborn Police citations data show that between 2010 and 2020, roughly 11% of all citations were due to equipment violations, such as a defective tail light, with roughly 48% of those citations given to Black motorists. These citations come with a $120 fine. That is more than the cost to fix a brake light.

Proactively fixing minor mechanical issues removes a reason police use to justify pulling over Black motorists, running their plates, and issuing harmful citations.

The location is intentional. Accountability for Dearborn is hosting the event next to the shuttered Clara Snow Branch Library. Between 2007 and 2011, the Clara Snow Branch Library, the city's health department, and 35% of its non-emergency staff were all cut in an effort to address a budget deficit caused by minimum staffing provisions for the Police and Fire Departments in the city charter.

We can see what investing in people, their safety, and potential can mean for a healthier Dearborn. This year presents the once-a-decade opportunity for the city to amend its charter, eliminating the minimum staffing provision, and changing the way we make major investments from the general fund. A4D hopes that vulnerable residents see that they are valued through the Brake Light Repair Clinic and hopes local government shows they care too with proactive, helpful investments in programs that keep us safe without punishment.