The Tennessean reports this morning that the “jail cam” at the Anderson County Jail — thought to be the only one of it’s kind in the world — may soon be shut down. (I can’t get this link to work with FireFox; works with IE.)

The Sheriff cites security concerns, while others quoted note inmates’ privacy rights. it does seem though, like it would be a deterrent to undesirable behavior on the part of either inmates or jail staff.

Still, since the Sheriff’s department already owns the technology, perhaps they might be able to use it for another purpose: would it be possible to do video arraignments of arrestees from the jail, rather than transporting them to the courtroom in Clinton or Oak Ridge? I think the technology to do this is relatively inexpensive… a sum that would be saved in just a few days of law enforcement time and resources to transport prisoners back and forth.

It would also improve security — something that one judge has been citing as an excuse to move his court to Clinton from Oak Ridge.

Worth thinking about, anyway.