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Roane County residents, law enforcement spar over 'Flock' license-plate cameras' privacy and value
Summary
Public commenters and commissioners debated the county's use of 'Flock' automatic license-plate readers, weighing data-security provisions and public-safety uses after testimonials from a magistrate who credited the system with helping locate a missing relative.
Members of the Roane County Commission spent an extended period of their meeting addressing residents' concerns about recently installed "Flock" license-plate camera units and how the county uses the data they generate. Resident Maddie Stanley told the commission she feared the system could be expanded beyond plate reads, linking cameras to facial-recognition tools and internet-accessible feeds that could be misused.
"Children deserve to be out playing and not have some weirdo from the Internet zoom in and look them on and turn them into AI ***********," Stanley said during public comment, urging officials to study capabilities and risks before any expansion. The remark underscored broader privacy worries raised by several commissioners and members of the public.
County law-enforcement representatives and staff answered detailed questions about the technology's operation and controls. A law-enforcement official said the installed system "reads license plate images only" and "recognizes the shape of the numbers," adding that the county office staff do not have unrestricted access to footage. "I have 0 access to any images in footage," the official said, and described the vendor arrangement as a subscription with encrypted cloud storage that overwrites data on a roughly 30-day cycle.
Not all speakers opposed the cameras. Scott Lynn, a lifelong Kingston resident who also serves as a magistrate, described a 201--- search for his mother that he credited to a plate hit from the system: "I credit the cameras for helping" locate her and bring her home safely, he said. That testimonial framed the technology's supporters' argument that plate-read systems can aid missing-person searches and criminal investigations.
Commissioners asked staff to provide the written contract and vendor materials they had received late that afternoon so the board and the public could review vendor capabilities, retention rules and local access policies. Several members urged the county to document explicit accountability measures — including which agencies can view data, retention limits and technical security — and to report back to the commission as more information becomes available.
