Collegedale terminates Flock Safety camera contract

10 September 2026. [AI first draft. Verify every fact against the source before publishing.]

The Collegedale City Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday, September 9, 2026, to terminate its contract with Flock Safety, the surveillance technology company that operates license plate reader cameras. The decision came five days after Police Chief Jack Sapp III discontinued officer access to the license plate reader network on September 3, citing resident and commuter concerns. The police department had operated six cameras within city limits.

Sapp formally recommended contract termination at the Tuesday commission meeting, noting that while the technology assisted with missing person investigations, wanted individual arrests, stolen vehicle recovery, and other criminal investigations, the benefits must be weighed against citizen concerns and expectations. The city had contracted with Flock since 2022 and budgeted approximately $16,000 for the cameras in the current year, having paid $8,750 to date [verify: payment amount]. Early termination will cost Collegedale $500 per camera, totaling $3,000 [verify: termination fee]. Vice Mayor Tonya Sadler requested the agenda item and urged the city to set a deadline for Flock to remove the cameras to prevent continued data collection during any delay.

Collegedale's action follows a similar pause by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, which suspended approximately 70 license plate readers across the county a week earlier. Sheriff Austin Garrett cited public data concerns and potential misuse of collected information. Flock Safety stated that agencies own and control data from their cameras and can decide whether to share it and revoke permissions. The company indicated it is adding customers at roughly ten times the rate of cancellations and is implementing new safeguards for law enforcement to detect abnormal search activity.

Residents interested in surveillance technology decisions in their area can request city council meeting agendas and contract termination documentation through public records requests, and monitor commission meeting schedules for similar technology reviews.

Read the original reporting: timesfreepress.com.