On the day of the deadline set by the Knox County Commission to remove its cameras, Flock Safety has taken down all but 10 of its 143 license plate readers. The remaining cameras have been covered by privacy shields until their removal, county engineering director Jim Snowden told Knox News on Sept. 16.
The Knox County Commission voted last month to ban the cameras and ordered the company to take them down by Sept. 16. Flock notified County Mayor Betsy Henderson earlier this month it wouldn't be able to meet the deadline.
Henderson announced Sept. 9 the Engineering and Public Works Department would begin placing covers on the cameras since Flock could not take them all down until Oct. 7.
The cameras drew bipartisan ire from residents over civil
liberties concerns, culminating in a series of intense county commission meetings in which representatives of the previous sheriff's office administration struggled to answer basic questions.
Much of the outrage was directed at the Knox County Sheriff's Office's acquisition of the cameras over time without seeking the commission's approval.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office has used Flock license plate readers since 2020, when it bought five through a service agreement. The contract allowed KCSO to build on the purchase in small increments, which kept the price under a threshold that required approval from then-County Mayor Glenn Jacobs or the county commission, effectively concealing the purchases and evading the approval process.
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Commissioners said they are looking forward to what they hope is a more transparent sheriff's office under new Sheriff Brent Gibson.
Commissioner Adam Thompson, a forceful supporter of the effort to ban the cameras, told Knox News he was not aware of any plans for KCSO to reintroduce automated license plate readers.
"The process before lacked a lot of transparency," Thompson said. "That was one of my biggest concerns."
If KCSO came to the commission with a revamped proposal, Thompson said he would be "open to having the conversation."
Commissioner Justin Cofer is looking forward to working with Gibson, but is not in favor of license plate readers being reintroduced any time soon.
"I recognize that license plate readers can provide some advantages to law enforcement," Cofer wrote in an email to Knox News. "However, I will always place our constitutional rights first, and I will vote against surveillance that is not initiated pursuant to a warrant."
Commissioners were told by lawyers the county is in a legal gray area regarding its contractual obligations to Flock, as well as the status of state grants used to purchase $800,000 more of the cameras earlier this year.
The commission, though, voted unanimously Aug. 31 to ban the cameras. Four new commissioners were sworn in the following day, but none have raised objections to the ban.
"Mayor Jacobs, and now Mayor Henderson, have made it clear that Knox County is not a place where Flock or any other company can use parlor tricks to secure government contracts," said Cofer, one of the newly sworn-in commissioners.
Anthony Nicotera covers public safety for Knox News. Email: anthony.nicotera@knoxnews.com
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: After the deadline for removal passed, here's how many Flock cameras remain
