On the campaign trail: Where candidates stand on license plate readers in Nashville

Cassandra Stephenson, Nashville Tennessean
·10 min read
License plate readers in use at the intersection of Gallatin Pike and Old Hickory Blvd in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, June 29, 2023.

A surge of new campaign ads and television appearances marked the end of June as mayoral candidates pushed for last-minute donations before the cutoff for the next round of fundraising disclosures.

Those disclosures should be available by July 14 and paint a picture of how each contender's coffers stand as their campaigns begin their final push.

Ads tackled school safety, gun violence, and community priorities versus tourism.

The Tennessean asked each candidate for their position on license plate reader use in Nashville following a report from Metro's police oversight board revealing the ongoing pilot program of the technology placed cameras predominantly in communities with minority and low-income populations.

Time is short for candidates to solidify their stances on major issues: Wednesday is the voter registration deadline, and early voting begins on July 14.

On Thursday, eight of the 12 mayoral candidates will take to the stage at American Baptist College's John Lewis Building for the third mayoral debate sponsored by The Tennessean, NewsChannel 5, and the League of Women Voters Nashville. The 90-minute event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Tennessean.com and NewsChannel 5.

License plate readers in Nashville

Nashville's police oversight board released a report last week examining the first three months of the city's license plate reader (LPR) pilot program. The report found the devices are largely concentrated in minority, low-income areas, and more LPR-related vehicle stops, searches, arrests and vehicle recoveries occurred in portions of North Nashville, East Nashville and Madison than any other part of the city.

LPRs capture images of license plates on every vehicle that passes, then compare those plates to national crime databases known as "hotlists." As of June 20, LPR technology contributed to the recovery of 72 stolen vehicles and 10 stolen license plates, according to Nashville police. Nashville's test period for the technology ends July 22.

Nashville figureheads Mayor John Cooper and Metro Police Chief John Drake pushed for the pilot's approval late last year, but multiple community advocacy groups have said the equipment risks individual safety, particularly for members of minority communities.

The Tennessean asked mayoral candidates for their thoughts on the study and the future of license plate readers in Nashville.

Natisha Brooks

Natisha Brooks emphatically opposes LPR use in Nashville, instead pushing for more funding toward increasing law enforcement staff, salaries and incentives, she said.

"After speaking with many constituents in the Davidson County metropolitan area, the people's interests are more visible law enforcement in their communities and after-school community programs for the youth to help prevent the rise in juvenile crime," Brooks said.

Heidi Campbell

Heidi Campbell said she generally supports LPRs for use in criminal investigations, but not for enforcing ticket collection and fees.

Her concerns center on the cost and efficacy of LPR programs, ensuring public access to records concerning LPR use, and the potential for racial profiling and data abuse. Concerns about LPR placement in Nashville are valid, she said.

"Before we move forward with a full program, we really need to take a critical look at whether we're reinforcing a legacy of redlining and racial bias in our placement … of these readers," Campbell said. "If this is a program that makes sense for the whole of Nashville, then why aren't there LPRs planned evenly across the whole of Nashville?"

Jim Gingrich

Jim Gingrich said he believes the pilot program can be improved to "avoid profiling or targeting." Working with MNPD and the community to adjust LPR usage to protect citizen rights and reduce crime will be one of his first priorities in office, he said.

"The program has shown preliminary promise at reducing crime," Gingrich said. "However, there is understandable concern that this technology could be used in ways that are biased or discriminatory. We need to continue to have conversations combined with transparency about its use."

Sharon Hurt

At-large Council member Sharon Hurt abstained from the final pilot program vote last year. Historically, she's been against LPRs because of their disproportionate negative impact on people of color, she said, but LPRs in Memphis led to the arrest of her nephew's killer. She said she needs to do more research before determining whether LPR use should continue past the pilot program, but the program appears to be "effective for what it has been designed to do."

Hurt said she was not surprised by the MNCO report's findings.

"If we do continue this program, we would absolutely have to do something about the locations of the LPRs and ensure LPRs aren't another excuse to over-police Black and brown communities," she said.

Freddie O'Connell

Freddie O'Connell said as someone with a computer science career and an understanding that data systems are inherently vulnerable to hacking, he is paying "careful attention" to the pilot program. He historically errs in favor of privacy in matters of mass surveillance, he said, but wants Nashville to take "crime and crime-fighting tools seriously."

"I'm concerned about the lack of community input involved in the placement of cameras in the pilot as well as the early data suggesting that cameras are in areas that are predominantly minority populations," O'Connell said. "There do seem to be some successful applications of the technology to have apprehended suspects. I need to do some further analysis to determine whether these instances are true cases where there would have been low probability of arrest, but for the usage of LPRs."

Alice Rolli

Alice Rolli supports LPR use in Nashville as a "practical way to expand our police force, which is stretched thin, and to support our detectives in the work of apprehending individuals suspected or convicted of a crime."

Rolli noted protections like appropriate data disposal after a "reasonable" time period are necessary. She did not directly respond to questions regarding the MNCO report's findings.

"Relying on force-multiplying technology like LPRs is a promising and cost-effective way to improve public safety in our city to help solve more crimes so that criminals do not become more bold and victims do not feel more helpless," she said.

Vivian Wilhoite

Vivian Wilhoite supports the pilot program but said she understands pushback from community members and said Metro must be transparent about how the technology is used.

Wilhoite wants to see the final report on the pilot program before deciding whether LPR use should continue, but the data thus far indicates LPRs are "effective at recovering stolen vehicles and locating individuals who have active warrants for their arrest."

"I would like more information to better understand why some parts of town have fewer traffic stops when there is a verified hit than other parts of town that show more traffic stops in response to verified hits," she said.

Matt Wiltshire

Matt Wiltshire said he supports LPR use "in principle" to assist law enforcement in apprehending "dangerous individuals."

The apparent concentration of LPR locations and vehicle stops in marginalized communities is concerning and must be addressed before considering a permanent LPR program, he said. LPRs have long-term potential to "reduce crime and increase community safety," and MNCO's study showed they are effective in assisting police in arrests.

"I am open to the continuation of LPRs, but feel like we have more work to do in order to ensure the program operates without explicit or implicit bias," Wiltshire said. "This is an issue we should take our time with, study the data, and hear from community stakeholders before extending beyond the pilot phase."

Jeff Yarbro

Jeff Yarbro said he would support the use of LPRs as a public safety tool only if Metro "can safeguard public trust about where they're deployed and how they're used."

The pilot thus far demonstrated LPRs can assist in identifying vehicles involved in criminal activity, but also supported concerns of community members who opposed the pilot, and those concerns must be addressed before moving forward, he said. The criteria for camera placement should have been "rigorously examined beforehand," he added.

"Instead, deployment was done pursuant to judgment calls based on unidentified crime reporting statistics and admittedly subjective assessments, which makes the disproportionate siting in poor and Black neighborhoods an even larger problem," Yarbro said. "If there had been more fulsome public conversations about site selection beforehand, we would not only have built needed public trust but also have far more useful data to evaluate the program."

Coming to a screen near you: A flurry of campaign ads

The start of the 2023 campaign's final month brought a cascade of new TV ads.

Freddie O'Connell's first televised spot depicts him as a football coach in a game of "billionaires and bachelorettes" versus Nashvillians, highlighting O'Connell as the only candidate to vote against the $2.1 billion Titans stadium deal. "Tourists and outsiders are getting all the wins," he says. "Let's build a Nashville for Nashvillians again, with expanded child care, housing we can afford and transit that works."

Jeff Yarbro's first TV ad shows him walking his daughter to school, a cheerful routine marred by the looming threat of gun violence. "In the Senate, I fought my heart out for tougher gun safety laws," Yarbro says. "As mayor, I'll put every city agency to work reducing gun violence and put mental health counselors at every school."

A new Matt Wiltshire ad takes a different tact on parents' concerns about gun violence in schools. "As mayor, I will invest in school safety," he says. "That means well-trained school resource officers, working with police to get illegal guns off the streets and connecting at-risk young people with critical mental health resources."

The race's first attack ad also claimed airtime: A TV spot bankrolled by Broadway honky tonk owner Steve Smith against O'Connell ran Friday morning. Smith ran an ad in January urging Nashville voters to choose "ABC: Anyone But Cooper" (Cooper later announced he would not seek reelection). "Now, it's NOE: Not O'Connell Either," the new ad says before spoofing O'Connell's campaign slogan. "After eight years of representing Broadway, it's still the same (beep), different day. Nashville's not 'Ready for Freddie.'"

Upcoming mayoral forums

Thursday

  • The Nashville Mayoral Debates, 6:30 p.m. at American Baptist College, 1800 Baptist World Center Drive. The debate will be streamed on Tennessean.com and broadcast on NewsChannel 5.

Sunday

  • Mayoral Candidates Public Meeting: "Nashville: The struggle for Equity — Justice or Just 'It'" hosted by Nashville Organized for Action and Hope at 3 p.m. at 15th Avenue Baptist Church, 1203 Ninth Ave. North. NOAH is partnering with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc, local chapters of Alpha Delta Omega and Kappa Lambda Omega, the American Muslim Advisory Council, the Jewish Community Relations Committee, the League of Women Voters and Organize Tennessee to host a forum focusing on candidates' specific plans to "lead Nashville to be a city where everyone can live, work and THRIVE." A "Cookies and Candidates" reception will be held following the meeting. This event is open to the public with free registration available through noahtn.org.

Monday

  • South Nashville Mayoral Forum hosted by Rep. Caleb Hemmer and Rep. Jason Powell in partnership with the Crieve Hall Neighborhood Association from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at LifePoint Health, 330 Seven Springs Way. This event is open to the public. RSVP here.

Tuesday

  • Moving Forward Mayoral Forum on Nashville-Davidson County's rising transportation issues from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cal Turner Family Center at Meharry Medical College, 1011 21st Ave. N. This event is hosted by regional transit advocacy organization Moving Forward and the Nashville Scene in partnership with Cumberland Region Tomorrow, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, Urban League of Middle Tennessee, Vanderbilt University's Office of Transportation and Mobility, and Walk Bike Nashville. This event is open to the public with free registration.

Dates to know for 2023 election

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Where Nashville mayoral candidates stand on license plate readers