MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Mt. Juliet Police Department is installing more eyes in the sky.  

Commissioners recently approved a new program that will install more license plate recognition technology, access to business surveillance footage, drones, and artificial intelligence to fight crime.

Earlier this week, authorities announced Mt. Juliet had been recognized as the fourth safest city in Tennessee, as well as the safest city in the state among those with populations over 18,500, according to SafeWise. The crime trends are proving that.  

“We're definitely the safest city for any city above 18,000 people, which, if you look at the other cities before us, they don't have near the risk that we deal with every day,” MJPD Deputy Chief Tyler Chandler said.

MJPD frequently posts on social media about arrests made using Mt. Juliet's LPR system. Officials said it’s a critical tool because the department is considered smaller than average when compared to the city’s population, with approximately 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents.

“The state average is 2.6 officers per thousand, so if we were even meeting average, we would need to hire about 32 more police officers to meet just the state average,” Chandler said.  

According to Chandler, it would cost Mt. Juliet $6 million more a year. Instead, the city continues to invest in technology to fight crime.

Last week, a contract with Flock Safety for LPR cameras went before the Mt. Juliet Planning Commission.

“That brings us more license plate readers, more intersection cameras, more community cameras, more gateways so we can partner with local businesses and have access to their surveillance cameras,” Chandler said.

The program will also install two drones on city buildings so they can be deployed immediately during an emergency, whether that's a police, fire, or medical matter. The drones will be operated by an advanced dispatcher.

“Any bad person out there committing crime, when they hear the sirens, they're running away from the scene. They're not going to be able to run away because they're not going to know they're being watched because there's a drone above them,” the deputy chief said. 

On top of that, officers will get enhanced, real-time 911 calls sent to their patrol cars so they can get to scenes more quickly.

All of this comes as Mt. Juliet is seeing low crime trends across the board this year. According to authorities, when compared to the same period in 2024, robbery is down 100%, burglary is down 56%, vehicle burglary is down 42%, overall theft is down 30%, and vehicle theft and shoplifting are both down 27%.

In addition, during the first five months of the year, police said they found 337 individuals with active warrants, 91% of whom were not Mt. Juliet residents, and arrested 119 people for theft-related offenses, 88% of whom were also from outside the city.

“If you’re a criminal who comes here, there's going to be more accountability, and we're going to have better tools to tackle that and make our community even safer,” Chandler said. 

Chandler reported a lot of the technology is already being installed, adding that the drones will by operational by mid-winter or early spring.

Meanwhile, MJPD aims to move into its new headquarters by August or September. 

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/more-lpr-technology-cameras-drones-coming-to-mt-juliet/