Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank says she is worried that the expanding footprint of Flock Safety license plate cameras could morph into what she calls a warrantless mass surveillance system, and she wants the public brought into the conversation before that happens. Frank has asked the Anderson County Operations Committee to schedule a public meeting on the future of the cameras in the county, and she says many residents have already reached out to her directly with concerns.
Frank's request, first reported by WVLT, comes as the Anderson County Sheriff's Office currently runs four license plate reading cameras: three stationary units and one mobile unit, according to the mayor. She described the department's current use of the technology as limited, but said she is concerned about where the technology is headed if left unchecked. Federal and state regulatory oversight of the systems appears limited, Frank said, and she wants policymakers to understand both the technology and the policies governing it before sharing that information with the public.
A County Sheriff Willing to Talk
Frank said she has already spoken with Sheriff Barker, who she says is willing to participate in an official discussion or meeting about the cameras, and that Anderson County law enforcement will take part in the public discussion she is requesting. The Operations Committee was expected to consider her request for a public meeting on Monday.
The debate in Anderson County is unfolding against a backdrop of mounting friction over the technology elsewhere in East Tennessee. Anderson County's own municipalities are split on how to handle Flock: Clinton runs eight cameras posted at entrances and schools, Oak Ridge operates about 17, and Rocky Top announced it will end its $3,500-per-camera contract in October, citing cost and a lack of results, according to The Courier News.
Neighboring Counties Hit the Brakes
Just next door, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs called for a nationwide pause on Flock camera deployments over Fourth Amendment concerns, a move that prompted the Knox County Sheriff's Office to halt its plan to install nearly 300 cameras across the county, per WBIR. U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett has also called for regulation of the cameras, and Frank's concerns echo that broader momentum building across the region.
Burchett, who represents Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District, introduced H.R. 9800, the Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act, in July. The bill would ban federal agencies from operating automated license plate recognition systems and block federal funding for local ALPR networks, according to Police1. He has called the technology unconstitutional. Opposition to the camera networks has drawn an unusual coalition in Congress, with conservative Rep. Thomas Massie and progressive Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García both backing spending restrictions on the technology, City Journal reports, a sign that concerns cross traditional political lines.
Public Pushback Turns Physical Nearby
The frustration hasn't stayed confined to public meetings. In nearby Blount County, 37-year-old Adam Lee Heimerman, an independent candidate for Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District, was arrested on four felony vandalism counts on July 30 after allegedly using a firearm to shoot four license plate reader cameras in Blount County and Maryville, according to WBIR. Authorities allege he shot one camera from church property during services. Hoodline covered the arrest in its own report on the shooting incident.
Anderson County has its own cautionary tale close to home. Former Oak Ridge police officer Zachary Gauthier pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to two years of probation after an internal investigation found he had improperly accessed Anderson County's Flock camera system 18 times for personal reasons, The Courier News reported. Oak Ridge sits within Anderson County, making the case a direct example of the kind of misuse residents have raised with Frank.
Legal Limits and National Guidance
Under Tennessee law, government entities operating license plate recognition systems are barred from storing captured plate data for more than 90 days unless it is retained as evidence in an active criminal investigation or court proceeding, according to state statute. Flock Safety, the primary vendor behind the technology, says it enforces a default 30-day encrypted retention period before permanently deleting plate data from its cloud systems. The company operates its ALPR network across 49 states and estimates it aids in solving 700,000 to 1 million crimes annually.
The American Civil Liberties Union issued guidance in June opposing Flock Safety's nationwide expansion, warning that cross-jurisdictional camera networks create what it called an unconstitutional digital dragnet capable of tracking innocent motorists' movements without individualized suspicion. Some departments have tried to build in safeguards of their own: the Knoxville Police Department updated its administrative policy on the readers last year, mandating that searches require official case numbers and limiting system access strictly to sworn officers for verified law enforcement purposes.
For now, the question in Anderson County remains open. Frank has not said what she believes the final policy should look like, only that she wants residents, law enforcement and policymakers in the same room before any decisions are made about expanding the camera network further.
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