Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Morning Edition
Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton

Bloomington police chief discusses police car karaoke and AI facial recognition at Mall of America

Two people, one in a police officer uniform, sit in a car.
Mayor Tim Busse joins Bloomington Police Chief Booker T. Hodges in the augural episode of "Car Karaoke with Chief Hodges." Hodges hopes the light premise of the videos will get more members of the community to watch, thus giving them a chance to learn about local issues from their leaders.
Screengrab courtesy of Bloomington Police Department

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Log inCreate a free Account

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

The Bloomington Police Department is trying a new way to engage with the community, a car karaoke YouTube series.

Bloomington Police Chief Booker T. Hodges is the creator and host.

“I take the blame or credit, whichever day it is for this program,” he told MPR News morning edition host Cathy Wurzer.

Episode one featured Bloomington Mayor Tim Busse. Hodges says the idea is to take a local celebrity for a ride-along, spend a few minutes talking about a local issue and sing a few songs. In all, he hopes the videos will “get people to pay attention to issues that they might not necessarily pay attention to, at the same time, have some fun with it, and ultimately, humanize people that hold different positions throughout the community.”

Hodges said it’s important to be accessible to the community and counter pop culture stereotypes.

“I don’t think we should be strangers to those in our community. And I think when those in our communities see us a lot — either via social media, or on TV or listen to us on these radio shows — when they see us out in the community with them, you know, they feel like they know us, which I think helps increase trust because obviously, people are more likely to trust people that they know.”

Last month, the city was awarded a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Conference of Mayors for a program that developed a community-informed set of shared values for the police department. Hodges plans to use the money to evaluate the impact of this initiative.

“It’s one thing for me as the chief to go out here and say our core value is respect, but how far does that soak down in the organization all the way down to the live staff, our record staff, our telecommunications … Hopefully, this is something that communities throughout the country, especially here in Minnesota, can replicate, if they want to increase and maintain trust within their communities.”

As for his next car karaoke guest, Hodges said he’s still deciding, but there’ll be at least another video out this month.

Facial recognition technology at Mall of America

Hodges also discussed Mall of America’s announcement that it’s rolling out facial recognition technology.

Hodges said the police department won’t use facial recognition to make arrests. However, he supports the technology and believes it will make the mall safer.

“If you look at the January 6 riots at the Capitol, if it wasn’t for facial recognition, half those people wouldn’t have been caught,” he said. “We’ve had multiple people at the mall who’ve been convicted for threats … And I get people’s apprehension about facial recognition, but it’s deployed in so many other places throughout our lives that people just don’t even pay attention to it.”

The ACLU of Minnesota condemns the use of facial recognition at the MOA. They said out of seven known wrongful arrests using the technology across the country all but one arrestee is Black. The National Institute of Standards and Technology found higher rates of false positives for women, and Asian and African Americans compared to their white peers.

Hodges told Wurzer that the Bloomington Police Department wants to hire a dedicated AI officer “so we can start exploring this technology and see how criminals are utilizing it. I just don’t believe that any technology right now is developed enough to where we can't rely on human verification behind it.”