Having Mastered Human Policing, Cops Hand Duties Over to AI

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

Suburban Cops Now Using AI to Write Reports

The Brooklyn Park Police Department has generated nearly 200 reports since implementing AI report generator Draft One in August. The system, which is built on a tweaked version of Open AI’s ChatGPT, is also being used by the Eagan and Bloomington Police Departments. Basically, the tech uses body cam footage and audio to generate a report that officers can edit, sign off on, and file.

If alarm bells are going off in your head, you’re not alone. While advocates say AI-generated reports will cut down on paperwork time, others are wary that this technology will add more bias to an already biased system. 

“Essentially, the police officer’s narrative and the body-worn camera are coming together, and we’re losing two independent pieces of evidence and getting what might be an incorrect or biased single piece of evidence that really doesn’t do as much to help us figure out what really happened,” Alicia Granse, a staff attorney at ACLU of Minnesota, tells KSTP. 

Axon, the company that owns First Draft, tells CNN that it is working to prevent “hallucinations,” aka the kind of alternative facts AI is known to just make up, which range from kinda silly meltdowns to genuinely horrifying misinformation. But there’s also human nuance that could screw up an AI report, including things like non-verbal communications and speech issues—a serious problem when reports can impact bail and what charges to pursue.  

“The transcript that you get, which becomes a police report, might be filled with misunderstandings, because the algorithm didn’t understand, like, a southern accent or a different kind of accent,” says Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, an American University law professor. “Police reports are really an accountability mechanism. It’s a justification for state power, for police power.”

Current Vikings Shocked to Learn About Past Vikings’ Sex Boat Scandal

The Sex Boat scandal, one of Minnesota’s wildest sports tales, turned 20 on Monday. One group that seems blissfully unaware of this incident and its legacy? Current Minnesota Vikings players. So when a few team members began planning a (presumably more innocent) boat cruise in their group chat, Samantha Van Ginkel, wife of linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, had to warn them that the optics wouldn’t be good, and shared a few links to the story. Honestly, their reactions are pretty wholesome:

“Safe to say, no one’s setting sail this week,” she writes via Twitter.

And, just in case you too are unaware of this epic high-seas sexstorm of yore: In 2005, 17 Viking players rented two houseboats on Lake Minnetonka, flew in a horde of sex workers (former cornerback Fred Smoot once claimed around 100 showed up), and went to town, Requiem for a Dream-style. After traumatizing the crew and their cleanup service, and pissing on a neighbor’s lawn, four players were charged with things like disorderly conduct and being a public nuisance on a watercraft and fined a few thousand dollars. The event (probably) led to head coach Mike Tice being replaced by Brad Childress, as well as giving us a new slang for, uh, cunnilingus.

Somali Muslims Navigate Dog Ownership

Sunni Islamic theology considers dogs unsanitary and impure, and it’s generally forbidden to adopt them as pets. But things are changing, at least locally, according to this super sweet story from Mohamud Farah for Sahan Journal on the complexities of faith, tradition, and puppy love. 

“I wish there was a secret club for Muslim dog owners in Minnesota,” says Shamsudir Mohamud, who has three pitbulls he deeply loves. “It’s important for us to have a space where we can share our experiences and educate our Muslim communities about responsible pet ownership.”

For the piece, Farah spoke with several Somali Minnesotans about dogs, from folks who love them like family to parents considering adopting because their kids love their friends’ pups.   

“They weren’t just asking for a dog,” says one father whose kids frequently ask for a pet. “They were asking to feel like they belonged in a world that seemed so different from the one I had known.”

Animales BBQ Is Going Brick-and-Mortar in Two Weeks

You probably know ‘em for the meaty treats from their food truck, but back in August of 2024 Animales BBQ told MSP Mag they had plans to move into the old Royal Foundry space at 241 Fremont Ave. N. in Minneapolis (right by La Doña Cervecería). Now, a little over a year later, they have an opening date: October 23. 

"This is the dream we’ve been working towards for years—a place where the community can gather over great food and great music," says owner Jon Wipfli via Tuesday afternoon's press release. Animals BBQ will feature an expanded menu, full bar, and a music stage that will frequently host free live performances. Opening weekend acts include Al Church, Cornbread Harris, and Solid Gold.