The Elizabethton, Tennessee, Police Department (EPD) has a staff of 34 people, serving a population of over 14,000 individuals. The jurisdiction of Elizabethton is adjacent to several larger cities, commonly called the Tri-Cities: Johnson City, Bristol, and Kingsport. This community faces increasing rates of violent crimes, including aggravated assaults, kidnappings, gun violence, and sexual violence. The EPD plans to develop its investigative resources to contend with these increases.

The EPD intends to implement automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to address the rising violent crime within the community. ALPRs will be an investigative tool and a real-time alert system that compares license plates to state and national databases for stolen vehicles, AMBER Alerts, and Silver Alerts. The ALPR system will provide valuable investigative leads. Members of the EPD Criminal Investigations Division will be able to search and review video footage based on location and time to identify suspicious vehicles and establish timelines for cases under investigation. The ALPRs will be deployed in areas with high crime trends, decreasing the response times for officers to reduce violent crime within Elizabethton. In addition to increasing investigative capabilities, EPD is also increasing crime scene documentation capacity through the purchase of a three-dimensional (3D) scanner and recording system. These technologies will enhance crime scene and interview documentation in order to increase successful prosecutions and convictions.