Knox County Mayor Advocates Pause on Flock Surveillance Cameras

Knox County, Tennessee, Mayor Glenn Jacobs has called for a “nationwide pause” on deploying Flock surveillance cameras. Speaking on “The Sunday Briefing,” Jacobs raised concerns about constitutional, privacy, and safety issues linked to this technology, emphasizing the need for proper safeguards.

Jacobs acknowledged the importance of providing law enforcement with tools to assist in solving crimes. However, he pointed out that Flock technology surpasses traditional license plate readers, suggesting it shouldn’t be widely implemented without a regulatory framework. The absence of federal regulation governing Flock cameras highlights a gap since existing Tennessee laws date back to 2014 with only a minor update in 2021.

“This is not about depriving [law enforcement] of the tools. It’s about figuring out how these tools can be used in an appropriate manner that is consistent with the Constitution,” Jacobs stated, referencing multiple abuse cases.

Flock Safety, the vendor of these cameras, has seen significant growth in usage by law enforcement, municipalities, and businesses. The ACLU estimates between 80,000 to 100,000 cameras are currently deployed across the U.S. According to Flock’s marketing, their products operate in over 6,000 communities, involving more than 1,000 businesses and 5,000 law enforcement agencies, with billions of vehicle scans conducted monthly.

Flock claims that collected data is automatically deleted after 30 days unless a different retention period is set by an agency. Despite assurances from Flock, the system’s accuracy has been questioned, with lawmakers in West Virginia’s Freedom Caucus seeking to ban these cameras statewide due to potential Fourth Amendment violations.

Max Bacall, an associate editor for Fox News Digital, contributed to this coverage, focusing on media, culture, and comedy.