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License-plate readers · Davidson County

Davidson County

Using license-plate readers · 3 agencies documented

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Belle Meade Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
14 camera locations citywide after a 2026 expansion (locations include plate readers, plate cameras and video cameras; reader count not given). WPLN reported the department bought 19 readers in 2017.
  1. 2025 WPLN reported the Belle Meade council approved ordering more plate readers in 2025; no date given. (WPLN News, June 1, 2026)
  2. March 2026 Belle Meade added three camera locations along Belle Meade Boulevard and Harding Pike, bringing its total to 14. (WSMV, March 5, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • WSMV says the program has run since 2018; WPLN (June 2026) says 19 readers were bought in 2017 and that the city council approved ordering more in 2025; WKRN (Jan. 2021) says Belle Meade took steps to install cameras in 2018.
  • Expansion date: WSMV report of March 5, 2026; the exact action date was not given.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Metro Nashville Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Motorola Solutions
Cameras
39
During the 2023 pilot, MNPD reported 39 plate readers: 24 fixed at intersections, 5 on mobile trailers and 10 on police vehicles (Nashville Scene, March 1, 2023). The pilot ended July 22, 2023; no readers are in use now.
  1. Feb. 1, 2022 Metro Council passed legislation authorizing a six-month plate-reader pilot for MNPD, 22-14 with one abstention; the bill was sponsored by Councilmember Courtney Johnston (BL2021-961). (Nashville Post, Feb. 2, 2022; Vanderbilt Hustler, Feb. 20, 2022)
  2. Dec. 6, 2022 Metro Council adopted a resolution, 22-13 with one abstention, letting Metro engage a vendor and install readers for the six-month pilot; then-Councilmember Freddie O'Connell voted no. (Nashville Scene, Dec. 8, 2022; Axios Nashville, Aug. 15, 2023)
  3. Jan. 2023 MNPD began mounting pilot cameras in late January 2023; police said images would be held 10 days unless linked to an investigation. At six intersections the Scene checked, the equipment was Motorola's, and MNPD said three companies were competing in the evaluation. (WSMV, Feb. 9, 2023; Nashville Scene, March 1, 2023)
  4. July 22, 2023 The six-month pilot ended. (Metro Nashville Police Department, Oct. 28, 2026)
  5. Aug. 15, 2023 Metro Council adopted, as amended, RS2023-2342 approving full use of plate readers by MNPD; reported vote 24-14 with one abstention. Councilmember O'Connell voted no. The amendment required further council votes before the program starts and termination of the vendor contract after a data breach. (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (Legistar), Aug. 15, 2023; WKRN News 2, Aug. 16, 2023; WSMV, Aug. 16, 2023)
  6. Sept. 19, 2023 NewsChannel 5 reported that Metro documents showed the city was willing to pay three companies a combined $4.1 million for additional readers. (NewsChannel 5 (WTVF), Sept. 19, 2023)
  7. Nov. 7, 2023 A bill keeping pilot cameras and signs down until a new program begins passed second reading; no vendor contract for the permanent program had been filed. (NewsChannel 5 (WTVF), Nov. 7, 2023)
  8. April 1, 2025 A council resolution asking the mayor to have MNPD and the purchasing agent finish procuring plate readers was withdrawn at the council meeting; it had been sponsored by Councilmembers Tonya Hancock, David Benton, Jeff Eslick and Jennifer Webb. (WSMV, April 1, 2025; Nashville Scene, May 29, 2025)
  9. April 7, 2025 WKRN reported Metro had no active plate-reader vendor contract and no LPR funding in budgets since the pilot. (WKRN News 2, April 7, 2025)
  10. June 2025 Mayor O'Connell's proposed budget did not fund plate readers; a councilmember said readers were also not in her substitute budget. (WKRN News 2 (via Yahoo News), June 3, 2025)
  11. Aug. 8, 2025 Mayor Freddie O'Connell said the city had no decision or timeline on plate readers. (FOX 17 (WZTV), Aug. 12, 2025)
  12. 2026 Mayor O'Connell said he saw no path to council approval of plate readers in the near future (quoted by WPLN on Sept. 2, 2026). (WPLN News, Sept. 2, 2026)
  13. April 3, 2026 At a briefing on first-quarter crime figures, Police Chief John Drake and Mayor O'Connell restated their support for plate readers. (FOX 17 (WZTV), April 3, 2026)
  14. June 1, 2026 A peer study commissioned by the Nashville Police and Public Safety Alliance found MNPD was one of two departments of the 10 compared without plate readers; WPLN reported a program would cost about $2 million and was not in the next police budget. (WPLN News, June 1, 2026)
  15. July 16, 2026 WKRN reported the citywide program approved in 2023 still had not been put in place. (WKRN News 2, July 16, 2026)
  16. July 29, 2026 MNPD arrested the driver in a June 13 hit-and-run that injured four pedestrians, after an investigator traced the truck into a private parking garage with plate-reader cameras and got its identifying information by subpoena. (Metro Nashville Police Department, July 29, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No current MNPD contract. WKRN (April 2025) reported Metro had no active LPR vendor contract; WKRN (July and October 2026) reported the citywide program approved in August 2023 has not been put in place. Budget: WKRN (2025) said the mayor's budget did not include LPR funding.
  • NewsChannel 5's $4.1 million figure (Sept. 2023) reflects what Metro was willing to pay three companies and is not listed as a contract.
  • Reported vote on Aug. 15, 2023 is from WKRN (24-14-1); Legistar shows the resolution adopted but no tally. 'Late Tuesday night' per WSMV.
  • The Feb. 2022 date is from the Hustler (passed Feb. 1) and the Nashville Post report published Feb. 2, 2022; the Post gives the 22-14-1 tally.
  • Pilot vendor: the Scene (Mar. 1, 2023) saw Motorola cameras at all six intersections it checked and said MNPD named Motorola among three companies; the other two were not named.
  • MNPD has used privately owned plate-reader footage via subpoena (MNPD release, July 29, 2026).
  • the Scene's 'License Plate Readers Are Live' is dated Mar. 1, 2023 and says cameras started going up in late January 2023; WSMV (Feb. 9, 2023) said rollout would begin within weeks.
  • O'Connell's 'no pathway' quote is undated in WPLN (Sept. 2, 2026) beyond 'recently'.

From agency records.

Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (Nashville International Airport)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
11
At least 11 Flock cameras as of fall 2025, per WKRN.
  1. Oct. 19, 2026 The airport authority told WKRN it uses Flock cameras at BNA, that agencies with access to the Flock network can query its camera data, and that queries by other agencies are logged. (WKRN News 2, Oct. 19, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. 2014 Tennessee law (T.C.A. § 55-10-302, added by Acts 2014, ch. 625) bars government agencies from keeping data captured by automated license plate recognition systems for more than 90 days. Data kept as part of an ongoing investigation may be held longer but must be destroyed when the investigation ends without charges or when the related criminal case concludes. (City of Murfreesboro, Sept. 15, 2023)
  2. 2021 A 2021 state law authorizes TDOT to let law enforcement agencies install cameras on interstate and state highway rights of way. TDOT later said the law gives it permission to allow such cameras but does not require it to. (Tennessee Lookout, May 20, 2022; Tennessee Department of Transportation, April 23, 2025)
  3. April 22, 2021 Gov. Bill Lee signed SB 699 (Public Chapter 201), which made captured plate data from license plate reader systems confidential and not open to public inspection. The Senate passed it 29-0 and the House 86-1. As passed, the confidentiality provision was set to expire July 1, 2026. (Plural Policy (Open States), April 22, 2021)
  4. March 2022 TDOT turned down a West Tennessee police department's request to put a plate reader on a state highway right of way. The department cited an ongoing review of the state's role in plate-reader use. A Tennessee Lookout column reported that the Lee administration was reviewing privacy, data collection and public safety questions around the cameras. (Tennessee Lookout, May 20, 2022)
  5. April 6, 2022 HB 2586, sponsored by Rep. Michael Curcio, would have raised the state's 90-day limit on keeping plate-reader data to 100 days. It was taken off notice in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee and did not pass. (FastDemocracy, April 6, 2022)
  6. April 23, 2025 TDOT issued Traffic Memorandum TM 2504, which sets out how local governments and law enforcement agencies get permission for surveillance cameras, including plate readers, on interstate and state route rights of way. Each request is reviewed by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, regional TDOT offices and TDOT's Excess Land Committee, and needs a signed license agreement before installation. Agencies with cameras already on state right of way must go through the same steps. (Tennessee Department of Transportation, April 23, 2025)
  7. July 28, 2026 State Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knox County) said he plans to talk with other state lawmakers about plate-reader limits before the January legislative session. Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) questioned whether the cameras are needed. U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett has introduced a federal bill that would bar federal funds from paying for license plate readers. (WVLT / WMC Action News 5, July 28, 2026)
  8. Aug. 20, 2026 The Tennessee Sheriffs' Association and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police announced a joint effort to draft recommended principles and model-policy guidance for plate-reader use, which they expect to present to the General Assembly before the 2027 session. Safeguards under consideration include a documented law enforcement purpose for searches, human verification of alerts before enforcement, access limited to trained staff, search audits, rules on sharing, retention and deletion, and discipline for misuse. (Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police / Tennessee Sheriffs' Association, Aug. 20, 2026)
  9. Aug. 21, 2026 TBI said it supports responsible use of plate-recognition technology, limits access to trained, authorized staff, bars personal and political use, and requires audits. Director David Rausch said the technology must be used responsibly with clear rules and accountability. TBI said it would work with partners and policymakers on standards. (WTVF NewsChannel 5, Aug. 21, 2026; WZTV FOX 17 / WTVC NewsChannel 9, Aug. 23, 2026)
  10. Sept. 2026 In a WVLT interview, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said plate readers are likely legal when they collect data in plain view for a limited purpose. He said he expects the General Assembly to take up the issue, and that lawmakers could choose a ban or set limits on how long data is kept and how it is used. No formal Attorney General opinion was cited. (WSMV / WVLT, Sept. 17, 2026)

State agencies

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No count disclosed. TBI describes using plate-reader data in investigations; it did not say whether it owns cameras.
  1. 2024 TBI said plate-reader data helped investigators quickly narrow in on suspects in the shooting of a Tennessee state trooper. (WZTV FOX 17 / WTVC NewsChannel 9, Aug. 23, 2026)
  2. Aug. 21, 2026 TBI said in a statement that it uses plate-recognition technology in some cases. It said Georgia plate data helped find a 1-year-old taken from Tennessee and helped track a missing at-risk adult to Colorado. TBI said its policy bars personal, political and retaliatory use and requires audits. (WTVF NewsChannel 5, Aug. 21, 2026; WZTV FOX 17 / WTVC NewsChannel 9, Aug. 23, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The statement does not name a vendor. In the cases TBI cited, the plate data came from other states' or agencies' cameras.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Tennessee Highway Patrol (Department of Safety and Homeland Security)

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No count disclosed.
  1. Oct. 15, 2012 WCYB reported that a Tennessee state trooper's cruiser had a four-camera plate-reader system that checked plates against a database, and that the patrol was adding such systems on an ongoing basis. (WCYB, Oct. 15, 2012)
  2. April 23, 2025 Under TDOT's TM 2504, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security reviews every application for a plate reader or surveillance camera on state highway right of way. (Tennessee Department of Transportation, April 23, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No current source found on THP's own plate-reader program. The 2012 report is the latest found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.