Resident urges council to reconsider use of artificial intelligence in policing, citing discrimination concerns

June Reichert, a Mankato resident, addressed the council during the public forum and urged council members to reconsider any proposal to introduce artificial intelligence into police work.

Reichert said she'd heard some concerns previously but felt they had not been fully acknowledged. She warned that, rather than removing bias, AI can "act as some sort of confirmation bias" and "people are just as much, if not more likely to be arrested or even just, you know, charged wrongfully for crimes that they did not commit." Reichert cited past incidents in Minneapolis as part of her concern and said using AI in policing "can really erode trust as people are experiencing, discrimination at the hands of a machine." She added people will ask whether the use of AI creates a "big brother" surveillance environment.

Reichert said she understood the goal of identifying witnesses, suspects or missing people but argued that constant surveillance disproportionately affects Black and Brown residents and "people never really feeling safe or in their own, you know, in their own element." She closed by urging the council to reconsider introducing AI into police work at all.

The council closed the public forum with no immediate staff response recorded in the transcript; no motion or direction on police AI was made during the meeting.