Minneapolis working towards speed, red light cameras to reduce deadly crashes

Minneapolis is working towards adding cameras to reduce traffic deaths.

The ‘traffic safety cameras’ would capture speeding drivers and those who roll through red lights. While it’s early in the planning process, city and state leaders behind this push say privacy concerns will be addressed.

“[There were] 26 people killed in traffic crashes in Minneapolis just last year,” Ethan Foley, coordinator for Minneapolis’ Vision Zero program, said, later adding: “All these deaths are unacceptable.”

Monday, Foley led an in-person open house for people to learn more about the cameras.

At first, there would be around a dozen cameras set up throughout the city, with the goal of making drivers more conscious of their driving habits. If caught speeding or driving through a red light, the first offense is a warning and the next is a $40 ticket.

No matter who is driving, the owner of the vehicle would receive the notices – that’s because the cameras would only capture the back of the vehicle and its license plate.

But, before a single camera can go up, state legislation needs to pass.

Leading the way at the capitol is DFL-Minneapolis Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura.  

“We know this is a controversial piece of legislation,” Rep. Sence-Mura said about the added cameras.

“The only thing that is captured is your license plate and it is only used for the purpose of speed safety cameras, and so it can’t be used by police for any other reason,” Sence-Mura added.

In fact, the city of Minneapolis says its police department would have nothing to do with the traffic safety camera and that citations would be issued by a different department.

One Minneapolis resident at the open house, Kyle Jones, said when he moved to the city, he got rid of his car.

“I see people all the time running red lights,” Jones said, adding he’s in support of the added cameras.

“There’s cameras already everywhere, so the way I see it, if we can get people to obey the law without the law having to be involved or get involved with law enforcement, I think it’s a great idea.”

The city said it’s too early to have specific possible locations and that pending the legislation passing, cameras wouldn’t go up until sometime in 2025.