WNC Surveillance Watch.

Jackie Stepp

5 min read

Title
Interim Chief of Police, Asheville Police Department (Jacquelyn “Jackie” Stepp)
In this role since
November 21, 2025, named by the outgoing city manager; Deputy Chief from October 2023; with APD since October 2005 (sergeant 2012, lieutenant 2016, captain 2019)
Current term ends
when the city manager names a permanent chief; applications closed July 31, 2026 and the city has said it is targeting a hire in September (WLOS, July 31, 2026). Whether she applied has not been reported.
Next voter decision
none directly; the chief is hired by the city manager, who answers to the council on the ballot Nov 3, 2026 (Election 2026)

Record on cameras and surveillance

  • March 7, 2025. As deputy chief, gave council its first briefing on the plate-reader program, at Councilmember Kim Roney’s request. She said the mobile readers had run for nearly a year and the stationary cameras for “approximately two years,” that cross-jurisdiction sharing was live, and that APD had access to “over 177,000 cameras across the Eastern US… and we’ve had that access.” The briefing, with timestamps.
  • July 31, 2025. Told the Public Safety Committee the network was “connected to over 19,000 cameras across a 500 mile radius” and that immigration alerts existed but were “turned off.” The two camera figures, 177,000 in March and 19,000 in July, are both hers and have not been reconciled on the record.
  • April 28, 2026. Presented at the committee work session alongside Axon and Flock representatives, with the cost breakdown at about $400,000 for the video wall, $467,602 for Fusus, and about $250,000 for the buildout. She told the committee, “I’m not here to sway a vote” (1:54:10). The session.
  • May 12, 2026. Presented the RTIC grant and the Axon contract to council for about forty minutes (video, 4:31:38 to 5:10:28). She stated there would be “no facial recognition, no general monitoring, no unrestricted access to private cameras” and “defined retention schedules and full audit logs” (4:33:18); that “Axon neither has access to the Fusus or to the system, or retains data” (4:47:05); and that the contract would bring “projected savings of over 4 million” over its term, where the city’s staff report put the bundling savings at $46,948.25. She committed to community town halls, listening sessions “prior to any policies being finalized,” and standing tours (5:09:08 to 5:10:28). Council approved both items 6 to 1. The meeting record · the commitments, tracked.
  • June 11 to July 23, 2026. Convened the RTIC Stakeholder Policy Workgroup, four sessions with APD staff, Sheriff Quentin Miller, and invited community members; the sessions were not announced. The notes, released Aug 20, 2026, record her welcome setting the goal of a “regional RTIC” formalized in a city-county MOU; her answer to the sheriff’s suggestion to invite opponents, “we believe we are accomplishing this through the tours, community meetings, etc.”; and her statements that facial recognition “would require a return to Council for approval” and that the DOJ grant contains “standard language that local law enforcement will cooperate with federal law enforcement investigations.” The policy the group produced is Policy 1703. The RTIC Policy.
  • August 14, 2026. Wrote council a memo, public as an agenda attachment from Aug 21: “APD is not pursuing a full transition away from Flock”; the plan is to “right-size our Flock deployment while expanding and integrating Axon’s automated license plate reader capabilities,” to explore “a Flock software license that would preserve access to the Flock network,” and to have “the Axon ALPR infrastructure operational” by February 2027. The memo counts 86 Flock cameras in Buncombe County, 11 of them the city’s, and lists changes made in August 2026: searchers cut from 18 to 12, sharing narrowed to four states, retention from 30 to 21 days. (memo · read against the resolution)
  • August 25, 2026. At the Flock termination vote, stated the limit of the data deletion the resolution orders: data already moved into Axon’s evidence.com for active cases stays. Staff agreed on the record to notify council when the deletion is complete (2:23:54). The meeting record.

In her words

  • “Public safety should not come at the expense of community values.” (May 12, 2026, 4:34:01)
  • “Trust will not be assumed. It will be demonstrated.” (May 12, 2026, 5:09:08)
  • “APD is not pursuing a full transition away from Flock.” (memo to council, Aug 14, 2026)

What is pending with her

  • The audit reports state law requires of a plate-reader program (G.S. 20-183.31(a)(7)). A resident’s July 2025 request for the city’s Flock audit records was refused on Sept 9, 2025; the Public Safety Committee meets Sept 24, 2026. The request, drafted.
  • The town halls and listening sessions committed to on May 12, 2026. As of Sept 8, 2026 no dates have been announced.
  • The notice to council that the Flock data deletion is complete, committed to on Aug 25, 2026.

Region: Asheville · Last verified: September 8, 2026

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