MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on Feb. 16.
Beginning Tuesday, Minnesota State Patrol is increasing its presence on freeways across the Twin Cities metro with the return of HEAT Patrols.
According to MN State Patrol, Highway Enforcement for Aggressive Traffic begins Tuesday and will expand to the rest of the state soon. HEAT patrols will continue through August 24.
A full HEAT Patrol schedule for the state will be released in the coming weeks, officials said Tuesday.
“The first HEAT patrols last month were successful in stopping speeding drivers and, with the help of our aviation resources, we were able to catch people who chose to flee police. We will continue this effort around the state through the summer,” Col. Matt Langer, the chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said in a press release.
In addition to having more troopers on the highways, state patrol will also provide more aerial support for other departments and law enforcement agencies.
Minnesota State Patrol says the new HEAT Patrols will focus on "traffic safety while also providing an increased law enforcement presence in areas with public safety concerns."
During HEAT Patrols in February, police stopped more than 500 cars for speeding and arrested nearly two dozen people for driving while impaired.
One community organization at the time said the patrols were a "poorly conceived plan" and that "this appears to be the kind of discriminatory targeting of people of color that led to the death of Daunte Wright."
The State Patrol denied those allegations.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: