A Murfreesboro resident asked the City Council on July 31 to delay or reject a proposed expansion of license‑plate reader (LPR) cameras by the Murfreesboro Police Department, saying the technology risks privacy and can be misused. The city’s police chief told the council he would hold additional neighborhood meetings and reiterated the department’s stated limits on how the system is used.

Alex Sager, who identified herself as a resident at 463 Evergreen Street, told the council she opposed adding 15 Falcon cameras and expanding access to the department’s real‑time crime center. “I don't believe more surveillance equals more safety. If anything, it instills more fear,” Sager said, citing concerns about data storage, access and reported uses of the vendor’s system in other jurisdictions.

Chief Bowen responded that the department provides information online about the real‑time crime center and has held prior neighborhood meetings. He said the department does not conduct continuous live surveillance and only accesses footage when there is a particular investigative need. “It’s not a surveillance system. We don't sit there and watch people. It's a system that we access when we have a particular need to go and retrieve that information,” Chief Bowen said.

Mayor Mary McFarland and other council members asked the police department to hold another neighborhood meeting and noted a town hall scheduled for Aug. 4 to address the topic. Council members said they wanted residents to hear staff presentations before public testimony on the related agenda item.

No formal vote on the LPR expansion was recorded during the public comments portion of the meeting. The council directed staff and police to schedule community meetings and to provide additional written responses to privacy and data‑access questions raised by residents.