Nashville nixes plan to spy on citizens

Broadway in Nashville lit up for business. Under the FUSUS program surveillance cameras covering the entire area could be linked into a central police camera network that opponents say would violate the civil liberties of people in the city. The entire city would be covered by the program voted down in the city council. | Wikipedia (CC)

The city of Nashville has spoken! Despite what the mayor or the police were saying, the December 3 Metro Council meeting was cause for celebration and a collective sigh of relief.

The vote to approve the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) new FUSUS contract was defeated last night, securing only 20 of the 21 required votes, despite the shoddy amendments for facial recognition and the verbal assurance from MNPD that there would be more guidelines and a strict adherence to them.

FUSUS is a computer program that allows police access to any surveillance camera in the city, tying them together, essentially, into one comprehensive spy network.

In response to the minor changes made to save the hated program, since the failed November 19 attempt to approve it, District 16’s congressional rep, Ginny Welsch said, “I don’t think that you can put lipstick on a pig, and I don’t think that anything’s going to make this bill better for the citizens of Nashville.”

Nashville’s mayor, Freddie O’Connell, sided with bureaucrats, lobbyists, and business owners to pressure the council to pass FUSUS, while the organizations standing against it were non-profits and organizations committed to justice and equity.

FUSUS is a combination hardware and software program by Axon that is sweeping U.S, police departments by storm, offering them access to the live feed of any private camera (that has been opted in by its owner) in their area. Though the proposed $774,900 34-month FUSUS contract was tabled this past February, the MNPD actually began illegally using the FUSUS system over two years ago in September of 2022 without Metro Council approval, and already has an existing network of over a thousand registered cameras.

It is not yet clear whether they will lose access to this or not.

In addition to helping build a coalition of local organizations and starting an anti-FUSUS petition (getting over 600 signatures), members of CPUSA continued to show up not only last night – but at the last hearing on November 19 as well – to voice opposition.

Participating in the coalition were members of the NAACP, the Community Oversight Board, the Urban League and several other organizations, including students and a variety of concerned citizens. The gallery was packed with citizens opposed to the police spying plan.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Zach Wyatt