Local office seekers speak out against Flock Safety, government surveillance

Four local candidates on the upcoming ballot for the Nov. 3 election spoke Tuesday evening on Flock camera surveillance in Johnson City, calling for its removal. The Washington County Democratic Party held a forum at the Langston Centre, where more than 20 community members filled the gymnasium to hear candidates' thoughts on Flock Safety and the broader issue of mass surveillance. Among the candidates running for office were Johnson City Commission candidates Sylvain Bruni and Dave Adams, Tennessee House of Representatives District 6 Democratic candidate Brad Batt and Tennessee House of Representatives District 7 Democratic candidate Sarah Jayne Della Vecchia. Batt said the access to Flock cameras contributes to "lazy policing" as well as "a surveillance state." Some of the other concerns raised by members of the forum on Flock cameras and Johnson City's use of them included the city's transparency, who can access the data and the lack of guardrails around the technology. "We're going to spend $8 million in the next eight years to fund additional cameras," Bruni said. "Instead of targeting public safety measures that are evidence-based, that we know are good for the community, that we know work." The city's 10-year contract with Flock will cost nearly $1 million annually after this year. Johnson City has more than 200 Flock cameras, which include license plate readers and pan-tilt-and-zoom cameras, that are operated by the Johnson City Police Department. The department also utilizes Flock Safety's gunshot detectors. These detectors only record audio and are not cameras. JCPD recently turned off its network sharing — weeks after initially announcing the department had done so — to only allow for Flock users inside the state to be able to search its audit after what JCPD Deputy Chief Mike Adams called an "oversight." The department also limited who can search the system internally, as well as the number of offenses that can be searched, according to the city's website. Batt said public records obtained through Tennessee's Open Records Act show JCPD Deputy Chief Mike Adams received emails alerting him of the number of network audit searches being conducted. The Johnson City Press has not reviewed these records and can not confirm this information. All four candidates came to a consensus that if elected, they will make it a priority to take the Flock cameras down. Bruni said the city should focus on hiring more police and public safety workers — a topic he said is not being discussed by local officials. He also added that implementing guardrails is not enough and exempts "the commission from looking at everything else that they should instead be doing." Early voting for the Nov. 3 election begins Wednesday and runs through Oct. 29. All four members of Tuesday night's forum are on the ballot for this election. More information about each candidate and the election can be found on the Johnson City Press Election 2026 page.