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License-plate readers · Hamilton County

Hamilton County

Using license-plate readers · 4 agencies documented

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Chattanooga Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Motorola Solutions
Cameras
41
41 Motorola plate-reader cameras citywide (Sept. 2026); 36 more were proposed under an Axon agreement.
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $400,000 total · approved by City Council, 2023-09 · Value of 35 plate readers funded through a state Violent Crime Intervention Fund grant shared with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and other agencies; council approved the grant funding. Not a vendor contract; vendor not named. Month only: WTVC article dated Sept. 13, 2023. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 13, 2023)
Contract
Axon: up to $15 million term · Five-year Axon agreement (annual cap $3 million) mainly for body cameras, Tasers, in-car cameras and interview-room equipment; the proposal includes 36 additional plate-reader cameras as an option. WTVC (Sept. 22, 2026) says the city has entered the agreement; the chief of staff said no new readers will go up without returning to council. (Chattanooga Times Free Press (via GovTech), Sept. 22, 2026; WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 22, 2026)
  1. Sept. 2023 City Council approved $400,000 in state grant funding for 35 new plate readers. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 13, 2023)
  2. Sept. 15, 2026 Chief John Chambers told City Council that CPD runs Motorola plate readers rather than Flock. Per the department, images unrelated to a case are erased within 90 days, every officer search leaves an auditable record, and CPD rather than Motorola owns the data. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 15, 2026; WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 16, 2026)
  3. Sept. 22, 2026 Councilman Cody Harvey asked the city to slow down on adding plate readers under the Axon agreement; Chief of Staff Kevin Roig said none would be deployed without coming back to council. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 22, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • CPD has used plate readers since 2019 (WTVC, Sept. 16, 2026). The chief said retention would drop from 90 to 30 days when ALPR and public-safety camera policies are merged; no date given.
  • Council vote date and tally on the Axon agreement not found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Collegedale Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
6
Six city-operated Flock cameras at the time of the vote per WTVC Sept. 9; a later WTVC report says five.
  1. Sept. 3, 2026 Collegedale revoked access to its Flock cameras for its own officers and outside agencies. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 9, 2026)
  2. Sept. 8, 2026 The Collegedale Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to end the city's Flock contract; Flock said removal could take 30 to 60 days at $500 per camera. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 9, 2026)
  3. Oct. 2026 The city covered its five former Flock cameras with bags pending removal by Flock; officials said police no longer use any plate-reader system. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Oct. 12, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Program began in 2022. Camera count differs between WTVC reports (6 vs 5). October event dated by month: article dated Oct. 12, 2026 gives no date for the covering.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions
Cameras
70
About 70 fixed plate-reader cameras (Flock and Motorola combined); 9 were Flock per a sheriff's spokesperson.
  1. Aug. 31, 2026 Sheriff Austin Garrett paused both the Flock and Motorola plate-reader programs, citing concerns about public data and possible misuse, pending a review. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Aug. 31, 2026; WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 1, 2026)
  2. Oct. 2026 The sheriff's office told WTVC that none of its roughly 70 fixed readers was operating any longer: it had shut off its Motorola accounts and the SIM cards both systems need, and Flock was taking its own units down. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Oct. 12, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Garrett told commissioners in 2023 he planned to use a state grant to buy the first Motorola readers (WTVC, Sept. 1, 2026).
  • October event dated by month only: reported in a WTVC article dated Oct. 12, 2026, without a specific date for the deactivation.
  • Shown as ended: by October 2026 none of the office's readers was operating and Flock was removing its units. The sheriff described the Aug. 31, 2026 step as a pause.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Red Bank Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Motorola Solutions
Cameras
3
3 Motorola plate readers (July 2026).
  1. July 29, 2026 Chief Dan Seymour said the department's three Motorola plate readers are used to look for stolen vehicles or vehicles tied to crimes. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, July 29, 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.