Two committees within Metro Council voted in favor of the two-meeting deferral.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Tuesday, Metro Council deferred the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD’s) request to receive outdoor surveillance video camera feeds from commercial businesses to assist criminal investigations.
The budget and finance committee voted five in favor and two against in favor of a two-meeting deferral on the resolution with a re-referral back to committee. Additionally, the public health and safety committee unanimously recommended a two-meeting deferral with a re-referral back to both committees.
Metro Councilmember Delishia Porterfield explained that the deferral was recommended so that councilmembers could get their questions answered as community members had a lot of concerns about the resolution. Porterfield added that there were concerns about the policy as written.
One concerned community member spoke against the resolution during Tuesday’s public hearing. Nicole Williams, who lived in The Nations, said that she did not want to live in a surveillance state. Williams added that the passage of this resolution would mean that the only way to avoid being filmed at all times would be to stay at home.
“I don’t buy into the whole, ‘Well, it’s better than it was the last time it came before y’all.’ Okay, if that’s how we’re going to operate government, then just take all the cameras,” Williams said. “At this point, the way we’re headed, this most-progressive-Council-ever is becoming less and less progressive by the hour.”
Williams added that this resolution would not increase public trust in police and asked Council to make sure that there would be a public hearing when the resolution was next brought up. The resolution will next be discussed, and will have a public hearing, on November 19.