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City Cast Twin Cities

City Cast Twin Cities

👀 AI cams are watching

November 10, 2025

Happy Monday! Tiffany here. Our formerly Floridian producer, Adam Sage, introduced me to pickleback shots last night after our launch party at Berlin, and I’m told it’s a very Midwest drink. The whiskey is disgusting, but the pickle juice is redemption. 🥒 Onto the news!

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What the Cities Are Talking About

A Flock surveillance camera in St. Louis Park with a brick building and trees in the background.
A Flock surveillance camera in St. Louis Park. (Tiffany Bui / City Cast Twin Cities)

AI Surveillance Cams Are Watching Us. Here’s What to Know

Among the many cameras used by law enforcement, automated license plate readers present unique privacy concerns. The leading brand of these cams is Flock. By compiling photos of license plates, cars, and even info about who is in the car, they can create a permanent record of everywhere you’ve gone. ACLU-MN lawyer Alicia Granse says since Flock is a private company, it’s much harder to get data from them than from government agencies. Granse sums it up this way: “Some database in the sky knows everything about me.”[ 🎧City Cast Twin Cities]

  • Tracking the trackers: Deflock.me is a map that tracks the location of Flock cameras based on crowdsourced information. According to the map, there are over 300 Flock cams in the Twin Cities. [Deflock.me]
  • Local law enforcement: Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, West Hennepin Public Safety, Roseville, and Edina are among several jurisdictions that use Flock cameras. You can check how long police can keep the data and who they can share it with.
  • The need for guidelines: The ACLU is calling on law enforcement and legislators to adopt certain principles to safeguard privacy. For example, the ACLU recommends that license plate readers can only be used by law enforcement – not private entities. [ACLU]

Also Worth Your Time

Free meals: The Nook in St. Paul is offering free kids' meals to anyone impacted by the SNAP freeze. Our host and St. Paulite Sean McPherson recommends the Lodge Burger if you stop by. [KSTP]

Twenty is plenty: Speeding is down 30% where Minneapolis installed cameras, according to piloting data released by the city. Nearly all drivers are traveling the legal limit. First-time offenders get a warning, and the second time, it’s a citation of at least $40.

A miso soup, seaweed salad with radishes and three onigris sitting on a silver tray on a wooden table.
The onigiri combo at Okome House, sister restaurant to the recently opened Nokko in South Minneapolis. (Tiffany Bui / City Cast Twin Cities)

Yum, handrolls: Nokko, a handroll sushi bar, opened last week in South Minneapolis. I love their sister restaurant, Okome House (which is a coffee shop in the morning). I’m excited to try their caulini hand roll with sweet glaze. [Instagram]

“Doing nothing for this community”: The St. Paul City Council is ordering the boarded-up and empty CVS at Snelling and University to be demolished. It opened in 2007, got looted in May 2020, briefly reopened, and then closed. It has attracted vandalism and open-air drug sales, Frederick Melo reports. But CVS has a lease through 2031, meaning it could just … stay an empty lot. [Pioneer Press]

Save the studio: Minnesota hip-hop artist Nur-D is rallying to save the recording studio he started with DJ Hayes on University Avenue in St. Paul. Fair Play Entertainment provides an affordable space for the community, priced at $40 an hour with an engineer (that is SO cheap!). They need to raise $8,000 by January. You can donate directly or subscribe to Nur-D’s Patreon. [Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder]

What to Do

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We’re still in the midst of street sweeping, so don’t forget to double-check those signs and move your cars. Here are the street sweeping maps for Minneapolis and St. Paul. Have a great week!

— Tiffany

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