ALPR cameras being taken down after unanimous vote
The vote followed an ordinance proposed by Commissioner Larsen Jay requesting that all Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras in Knox County be taken down in the next 30 days.
A pair of amendments added that all data from those cameras be destroyed, except what pertains to active investigations.
“I applaud the work of the County Commission in passing an emergency ordinance to order the takedown of Flock cameras,” new Knox County mayor Betsy Henderson said in a statement released Monday. “I will always support law enforcement and the work they do to protect the place we call home, but that work must be carried out in ways that respect individuals' constitutional rights.”
“We have been elected to represent the people of Knox County, and they have clearly spoken out against the use of Flock cameras in their communities,” she added. “I appreciate Commissioner Adam Thompson’s leadership on this issue, as well as Commissioner Larsen Jay’s efforts to ensure citizens' voices are heard and their rights are respected.”
This saga will be one newly-elected Sheriff Brent Gibson will encounter, as this amendment is not “written in stone,” as Jay pointed out.
But Commissioner Angela Russell, representing Farragut and Concord in District 5, noted members of KCSO were not “fully transparent” in this process, referring to the lack of check-and-balance oversight.
“I believe a complete reset is needed to ensure citizens’ rights are protected but also needed for the Knox County Sheriff’s Office,” Russell said Monday night. “The new administration needs to be solely focused on rebuilding community trust and cooperation, because that’s a much more useful tool than cameras.”
Commissioner Adam Thompson brought the ordinance, and Jay signed on after criticizing KCSO for not being transparent. He also added a provision expressly prohibiting surveillance centers in general, not just the cameras supplying the data.
Multiple commissioners noted that while they agree with the decision, they also warned against passing a law that infringes on a contract, citing unconstitutionality.
For reference, former Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs sent a letter to Flock on Aug. 12 questioning the validity of its agreement with the sheriff’s office.
Reportedly, he cited the amount KCSO paid over time on its agreement with Flock, $274,720, which is over the threshold required to receive county approval.
That letter remained unanswered as of Monday night, and because the ordinance did not inherently void the contract, the question arose as to whether Knox County could owe money to Flock by voting this into action.
Jay offered a summation, citing the ordinance’s fresh start.
"Knox County does not want to be watched by their government," he said. "It's not a perfect fix right now, but its our job to clean up somebody’s mess. This entire program is poison fruit from a really rotten tree. We have to start at zero. I don't mind cutting checks back. There's so much more than fiscally a detriment to our county. This wasn't done in the right way."
Reportedly, KCSO just spent $800,000 to order Flock cameras to set up the surveillance system. Moreover, multiple reports indicate this issue first emerged from KCSO’s plan to use state grant money to install 270 additional Flock cameras in the area, on top of the approximately 143 that are already in use.
No one from the sheriff’s office showed up to Monday’s meeting, but the office is required to remove the fixed license plate readers by Sept. 16, according to a report from Knox News. If they don’t, county staff will do it for them.
For reference, the Flock corporation is the largest provider of ALPRs in the United States. But it competes with vendors such as Axon, Verkada and Motorola Solutions that face similar privacy and surveillance concerns.
These concerns were voiced by multiple people in Monday’s meeting, but farragutpress readers also let their voices be heard in comments on a Facebook inquiry posted last week.
Altogether, Knox County appears to vehemently oppose the cameras, at least without proper safeguards in place.
Such safeguards were suggested in a release from the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association and Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police last Thursday, Aug. 20. Together, they stated support for “responsible use and accountability” for the technology, adding they plan to bring these recommendations to lawmakers before the next legislative session in 2027.
But for now, as of Monday night, Knox County will be without this technology until Gibson and/or new Knox County mayor Betsy Henderson begin this process anew, should one or both of them choose to do so.
