Will Nashville ever get LPRs again?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville residents have been wondering if and when they'll ever see license plate recognition technology again.
Metro completed a six-month pilot program on LPR cameras that ended in July 2023, which resulted in 112 arrests, 130 total felony charges and 14 guns recovered.
On Friday morning, Mayor Freddie O'Connell made it seem as though his office was waiting on Metro Council before taking any next steps.
Vanderbilt University poll shows Nashvillians favor LPR technology with certain restrictions
'Within weeks of taking office, we started engaging the community to address concerns and we have a policy framework we're ready to run,' O'Connell said. 'I think what you've seen upstairs in the Metro Council is they can't even get to consideration of a resolution asking us to bring LPR policy there.'
However, Metro Councilmember for District 26 Courtney Johnston said the council was waiting on the Mayor's Office to bring vendor contracts forward.
'The Council passed a policy around LPRs that we contemplated for quite some time. It passed in 2022. Based off that policy, we did a six-month pilot. That six-month pilot was proven to be very effective. Then the council, last term, at the end of the term that ended in 2023 — we passed the resolution allowing the full implementation of the LPR program,' Johnston said. 'Some of us have been asking for those contracts — certainly the community, overwhelmingly, has been begging us for LPRs. So it's really frustrating for the mayor to try to pawn this off on the council when the council has done everything that we were supposed to do.'
A recent Vanderbilt poll showed that 83% of Nashvillians polled were in favor of LPRs, as long as there were strict limitations on use and data protection.
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'I would say we are ready to bring overall responsible frameworks for a variety of public safety tools to the Metro Council, and we are waiting on them to be ready to introduce them to the community,' O'Connell added.
With no money set aside for LPRs in this year's budget, the program's future could be debated in next year's budget.
'We are now coming into the FY 26 budget cycle, so we'll see if he puts it in his budget there,' Johnston said. 'But that shows you his intent. If he fails to fund, he has no intention of moving forward the contracts.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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