KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — License plate readers are watching all around our community, leading to backlash from Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, members of the Knox County Commission, and Congressman Tim Burchett.
DeFlock, an anti-license plate reader organization, is tracking these LPRs across the country. Their map shows cameras running from Crossville to Gatlinburg. In Knoxville, KPD has begun its transition from Flock cameras to Axon cameras.
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The Knoxville Police Department has just ten license plate readers, or LPRs. Once work is complete on KPD’s Real Time Information Center, it will have 27 of them. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office wants to build ten times that number, or 270.
“They are taking photos of their car and license plates that pass those cameras,” said KPD Public Information Officer Scott Erland. “And then that converts into data.”…