Minneapolis speeding cameras pilot program preparation underway

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The City of Minneapolis is ready to launch a program enforcing speed limits with cameras.

Supporters say it’s often a matter of life and death.

There may be legal hurdles to remote camera enforcement, but all they need now is approval from the Minnesota Legislature.

The state Supreme Court put an end to the city’s red light camera enforcement in 2007, but a new task force is already looking at how to do speed enforcement legally.

Car pieces scattered everywhere in early December as two people died in a high-speed, three-car collision on Hiawatha Avenue and East 26th Street.

In the years between 2017 and 2021, an average of 150 people died or suffered very serious injuries in crashes in Minneapolis and speeding was often a contributing factor.

The city will host an open house in late January to discuss how it could use cameras to enforce speed limits near schools and in highway work zones.

They’d still need approval from the legislature, but Rep. Koegel (DFL-Spring Lake Park) has already helped create a task force studying how to make camera enforcement work.

"I think this is just another progression in trying to make sure that our workers are safe out there," said Rep. Koegel (DFL-Spring Lake Park).

The Federal Highway Administration says speed cameras can cut injury crashes almost in half on busy streets.

But opponents warn its government overreach and leads to more of a robotic police state.

"This feels like it's because Minneapolis doesn't even have enough police officers to police their own city, that now they're trying to turn it over to A.I. and cameras," said Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine.

The legislative task force is examining how to overcome any constitutional challenges.

Supporters argue the technology is better now than it was in 2007 when the Minnesota Supreme Court ended the city’s red light camera program, so that’ll help, but legal analysts are paying close attention to potential problems.

"You always have issues of ownership of the car, who's driving the car, and what (the camera) actually captures," said Mike Bryant, managing partner at the law firm Bradshaw & Bryant.

The city is preparing to launch a pilot program very quickly if and when they get legislative approval.

The Minnesota Legislature convenes Feb. 12.