During the recent study session of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the Tullahoma Police Department voiced its support of continued use of license plate reader technology, pointing to safeguards the city will use to make sure the system is not abused.

“The Tullahoma Police Department recognizes the recent public reporting concerning the misuse of automated license plate readers by law enforcement personnel nationwide has raised legitimate concerns regarding individual privacy, unauthorized surveillance, and public trust,” Chief Chase Sons noted, pledging the Tullahoma Police Department will maintain strict safeguards to ensure the technology is used exclusively for authorized law enforcement.

Captain Jason Maloney explained that retention of information is just 30 days for investigations. The patrol division will only retain it for seven days. He also said the technology will go to audits every month, to be conducted by the captains. Presently, all patrolmen, investigators and administrators have access to the system; however, the system keeps a log of their access to the information, which shows up in any audit by the department.

The captain presented some successes of using the license plate readers system. One was in 2024, a meth conspiracy case that led to the arrests of nine suspects. “These individuals were importing kilos of methamphetamine straight into Tullahoma,” he explained. “We are not relying on LPRs to build our cases, it’s just a tool to help us build our case.”

In 2025, the technology helped bust an Arian Nation Cartel involving 102 pounds of meth and 34 pounds of cocaine. On March 3, 2026, a firstdegree murder suspect from Wilson County was caught thanks to LPR technology in Tullahoma. In July 16, 2026, police were helped by the technology to catch a suspect in a domestic and arson case in Franklin County.

It was pointed out that there is no driver’s license information or facial recognition garnered by the LPR, but instead it is simply a picture of the license plate.

City Administrator Jeff Damron noted that misuse of the LPR access would have immediate impacts.

“It would be grounds for immediate termination,” he said of any officer who misuses the LPR technology.

The reason for the discussion was the request from the Tullahoma Housing Authority that Tullahoma Police take over the LPR on THA properties. Funding for the cameras comes through the THA and would not be put upon the city.

Alderman Daniel Berry questioned what the city would do if someone from another agency misused information gathered by Tullahoma cameras. Chief Sons said they would first take away access from that jurisdiction and look at prosecutable offenses against the offending officer. Sons said multiple lookups of the same tag are red-flagged in the system.