A Minnesota police department is trying to get a traffic camera installed at a community center that serves people with disabilities, but critics say it could pose a threat to those with physical disabilities.
The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is in the process of installing a video camera at a Northlake community center.
Police Chief Todd Axtell told the Associated Press he wants the system to be used to help people with developmental disabilities or those who need the extra help to interact with police.
The department says the system would provide people with hearing or vision impairments with a way to see what’s going on around them.
But some have questioned how that would work when people with a disability are constantly looking for the cameras, which can be installed on sidewalks and in public areas.MPD Chief Todd W. Axtell is trying a new way to monitor people with physical impairments at a Minneapolis community centerThe camera will be placed inside the Community Center at Northlake, which serves people who have disabilities.
“The cameras are going to be very helpful for the community,” Axtell said.
“But there’s going to also be people that are in need of help, and they need it.”
The cameras will be able to track a person’s movements and also monitor their movements around the neighborhood.
They are being installed in the center, which is owned by the city of Minneapolis.
“This is an area where people with special needs are often overlooked by the general public,” Axtold said.
But the cameras aren’t the only benefit the cameras will bring.
Axtold says the cameras can be used as a backup in times of emergency.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution,” Axden said.
The camera system is being tested at the Northlake Community Center, which was set up in 2005 and was originally a temporary facility until the city changed its policies.
It is currently home to the Northside Community Center and Northlake-Cedar Park, where the police department operates.
The cameras, Axtell says, are going into use on a trial basis, with a few other locations being tested.
He says the department is not currently looking to install the cameras in other areas of the city.
“We’re going to see how this goes,” Ax told the AP.
“We have not looked at any other locations, and we’re not in a position to do that.”
Axtell says that the cameras are only a temporary solution until the system can be tested in a permanent setting.
The cameras are being tested as part of a pilot program with the city, but Axtell would not say whether the pilot would be extended to include other parts of the country.