MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Mt. Juliet Board of Commissioners approved a contract with a new vendor for license plate readers.
Nearly every week, the Mt. Juliet Police Department (MKPD) posts to social media about license plate recognition software (LPRs) alerting officers to criminals who are primarily from outside the city.
“Most of the offenders are out of the Nashville area," MJPD deputy chief Tyler Chandler told News 2. "...There's always that concern as Nashville crime changes — how does it affect us?”
One of the issues that affects Mt. Juliet is the issue of guns stolen from vehicles. This week, the Metro Nashville Police Department reported that 819 guns have been stolen from vehicles this year. Sixteen were taken from cars just last week.
“When you look at our statistics, you do find more officers finding more unlawful weapons in vehicles,” Chandler said.
Last month, two guns stolen from Nashville were recovered in Mt. Juliet during two separate traffic stops. The suspects were from outside areas.
“When you look at our statistics and see that the offenders are coming out of Nashville," Chandler added. "Many are wanted out of Nashville, so why aren’t they in jail? Why aren’t they being held accountable for the crimes that they have committed previously?"
As of publication, the city of Mt. Juliet has 52 LPR cameras.
This week, city commissioners approved a contract with a new LPR vendor that will take over this summer. Chandler said the new vendor will hopefully expand the city's LPR system.
“Flock has more technology to local law enforcement," Chandler said. "They are a company totally geared towards public safety."
He said it’s another layer to keep the community safe. Every county surrounding Nashville has an LPR system in place.
That's part of the reason Chandler said crime has bled into suburban communities like Mt, Juliet.
“I kind of look at it like a fire ant hill. It's a weird analogy, but if you have an anthill, it can continue to grow if it's not controlled. But you can set a perimeter around it from whatever treats the ants and prevent them from spreading," Chandler explained. "This is what you see what you see and right now...it's an out-of-control ant hill where we see criminals to cross borders and travel around and cause harm in other communities."