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Council approves $9.4 million Axon amendment covering drones and equipment after transparency debate
Summary
Knoxville City Council voted to approve a second amendment to the Axon contract to add equipment and services (including drone capability and license-plate-reader integration) after council members pressed police and staff for details on public dashboards, data retention and ongoing subscription costs.
Knoxville City Council approved a second amendment to the city's existing Axon Enterprise Inc. agreement that adds goods and services for the Knoxville Police Department, increasing the city's contract exposure by up to $9,407,699.82. The measure passed after council members questioned how drones and data would be used and whether the public would have access to related information.
The amendment (identified in staff remarks as CDash24Dash0416) was presented by staff as an extension that would supply officers with equipment including body-worn cameras, tasers, drones, and the ability to bundle license-plate-reader services. During council discussion, Council member Grant asked whether the new drone program would include a public-facing dashboard. Chief Noel said the planned Skydio DFR program "will build out for us a public facing dashboard that will show every drone flight, flight path" and that the dashboard would likely post flights with a short delay for safety reasons.
Chief Noel also cited Tennessee law governing law-enforcement drones, referring to "TCA 39-13-609," saying the statute "lays out when we can fly an unmanned aircraft for law enforcement purposes without a search warrant" and noted footage retention limits: "we could only save the video footage for 15 days" unless the footage becomes evidence in a criminal investigation.
Council member Parker pressed staff for more public engagement and for clarity on recurring subscription costs. Parker noted city spending approved last year and described the current amendment as an additional annual cost, asking, "At minimum, the public deserves a public information session." Chief Noel and procurement staff said the program and pilot had been in the public domain and invited council to review the real-time information center before it goes live. Staff also stated that the drone systems "do not use facial recognition technology" and that DFOs (drone flight operations) do not have license-plate-reader technology built into the drone units.
After the exchange of questions and staff responses, the council voted; the mayor announced the motion carried by voice vote, "Motion carries 8 1." The amendment will be spread over the term of the contract through the existing contract period.
What happens next: Staff said they will continue community engagement as the Real Time Information Center and drone program are implemented and invited council to preview the system before it becomes operational.
