The Knox County Sheriff's Office is not following its own plan to install Flock Safety camerasin the most dangerous parts of the county and to not overlap its cameras with neighborhoods covered by the Knoxville
Police Department camera network.
The sheriff's office received a $1.5 million state grant to buy the new cameras, and explained in the application it planned to install them in six zip codes: 37918, 37917, 37914, 37915, 37920 and 37921. In its Nov. 7 grant agreement sent to the county commission, department leaders said they wanted the surveillance cameras in neighborhoods with the highest crime rates, all of which are partly in Knoxville city limits.
A month before the KCSO Advanced Research Center surveillance hub was set to launch, cameras were installed in rural parts of the county such as Corryton and Mascot, which are far outside the targeted crime zones. KCSO procurement director Hugh Holt told Knox News on Aug. 3 the sheriff's office is putting cameras in the targeted crime zones, but also throughout the county.
When asked how many Flock Safety cameras KCSO had purchased, Holt replied: "We do not own the hardware; we own the data that it produces."
In the targeted zip codes, Knoxville police already have and use eight surveillance cameras and 13 fixed KPD license plate readers. The department opened its monitored real-time crime centerat the end of May and shared with residents the camera locations.
Last month, KCSO officials told reporters their plan was to avoid overlapping with the Knoxville Police Department's survelliance center.
Scott Erland, a KPD spokesperson, told Knox News sheriff's office leaders did not meet with anyone from KPD about their new cameras. He couldn't say whether KCSO had put up Flock Safety cameras within city limits, where both agencies have jurisdiction.
Cameras go beyond where Knox County Sheriff's Office officials said they would be installed
Knox County Commissioner Adam Thompson, who represents Corryton and Mascot, has led an effort to block KCSO's surveillance system after he spotted cameras in his rural district, far outside the identified high-crime zones.
"In the Eighth District, we love our law enforcement," Thompson said at a July 27 commission meeting. "In Corryton, they even took a section of the senior center and said, 'Hey, you need a break room? You need to do paperwork? Come do it here. Open arms for our law enforcement in Knox County Sheriff's Office.' But when you approve a resolution that never mentions anything about Flock cameras, surveillance, license plate readers, none of that was in the resolution. I have a hard time dealing with that."
KCSO's grant agreement with the state, which commissioners approved, mentions cameras and combatting crime through surveillance, but not specifically using Flock Safety cameras. KCSO leaders did not include a breakdown of where the cameras would go outside the six Knoxville zip codes listed.
"A virtual crime center would serve as a cutting-edge tool to combat violent crime in the zip codes delineated in the grant solicitation," KCSO's grant contract with the state says. "By integrating real-time intelligence, predictive analytics, interagency coordination and community engagement, the (virtual crime center) empowers deputies and investigators to respond efficiently, act proactively and plan strategically. The creation of such a center ensures that all residents, across every ZIP code from urban Knoxville to the rural outskirts of the county, benefit from enhanced safety and law enforcement support."
After Knox County Sheriffs Office cameras started popping up, Knox County chief engineer Jim Snowden told Knox News the department stopped putting up more cameras on the county's right of way. But cameras were able to go up previously because county officials hadn't realized what the cameras would be used for.
County crews won't install any others until the mayor and commissioners provide additional direction, Snowden said.
The commission will vote Aug. 31 whether to ban the cameras.
Knox County Sheriff's Office Flock cameras: What we know
The cameras KCSO bought are different from those already in use in Knoxville, which only allow feeds from specific intersections.
Flock Safety cameras purchased by the sheriff's office use artificial intelligence and take more detailed records of what they're recording. KCSO's choice of Flock Safety has raised serious concerns from elected officials. The company made national news after police officers misused its camera network to track women for personal reasons.
KPD's real-time information center policy restricts other agencies, such as KCSO, from accessing its data. Other agencies can request certain material, but a KPD supervisor must approve it. KPD has a strict policy for how long data is retained, who can access it and how it should be audited on its website.
KCSO has not shared a policy for data collected in its surveillance center, but spokesperson Kimberly Glenn said the department plans to release one before the center is operational. Glenn did not respond to questions from Knox News about when the list of locations will go online.
The center was set to open in August, but Sheriff Tom Spangler agreed not to turn the cameras on through the rest of his term, which ends Sept. 1. The future is unclear as Brent Gibson, the only candidate to succeed Spangler, has not responded to questions about whether he'll keep the program going.
Capt. Aaron Yarnell, the former KCSO technology director who oversaw the purchase of the Flock Safety cameras, entered KCSO into a 10-year agreement with Flock Safety for a "Flock Safety Bundle and Flock Safety Professional Services," according to records obtained by Knox News.
KCSO has not answered questions from Knox News about what the 10-year agreement entails or how much money the county will be on the hook for after the $800,000 contract expires, but the Knox County Commission will have to approve any service contracts KCSO wants to sign with Flock Safety that are over $100,000 in the future.
Learn about the Knox County Sheriff's Office Advanced Research Center
Knox County commissioners, KCSO leaders and representatives from Flock Safety will meet to discuss the surveillance center proposed by Sheriff Tom Spangler.
Commissioners requested the meeting because they said they didn't have enough information about the program.
When: 1 p.m. Aug. 24
Where: Main assembly room of the City-County Building, 400 Main St.
Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: New Knox County police cameras were installed outside high-crime zones
