The Seattle City Council’s public safety committee approved legislation that would add new CCTV cameras and “Real-Time Crime Center” software in a bid to address crime. The full council will vote on the new laws next month.
The CCTV cameras will be installed in the Third Avenue corridor downtown, the Chinatown International District (including Little Saigon), and along Aurora Avenue in North Seattle as part of a pilot. Mayor Bruce Harrell expressed support for the technologies in his speech about the city’s budget, which allocates more than $2.4 million in 2025 to deploy the crime prevention technologies.
“I strongly believe in using the latest technology as a tool to strengthen our public safety efforts,” he said Tuesday. The city says the cameras “will only be used in public places, such as sidewalks, streets, and parks to mitigate privacy concerns.”
Notification signs will be posted. Video recordings are retained for up to 30 days, then erased unless used as evidence. Face recognition tech will not be used, according to the Seattle Police Department. Critics of the plan say there isn’t proof that the cameras are effective.
“We are deeply concerned about the City’s efforts to deploy CCTV cameras and real-time crime center (RTCC) software despite evidence that these technologies do not reduce violent crime and disproportionately harm communities of colour,” Tee Sannon, ACLU of Washington’s technology policy director, said in a statement to GeekWire.
Sannon said the Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) can be used to allow out-of-state agencies to access data “to arrest immigrants and prosecute people coming to Seattle for reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare while bypassing state protections.”
In a presentation, SPD says it “will not cooperate in criminal or civil enforcement of laws related to immigration or reproductive or gender-affirming health care services.” Axon, the police body cam and taser giant that has an engineering office in Seattle, is partnering with the city on the RTCC, according to Publicola. Axon earlier this year acquired Fusus, a leader in real-time crime center technology.
“Real-time crime centers like Fusus offer an unprecedented opportunity to increase safety in any moment, in every environment,” Axon wrote in a blog post. “They provide a ‘single pane of glass’ to monitor active incidents by integrating live video footage and other data points from various locations within a community.” Publicola reported that the RTCC can potentially use footage from private sources such as Ring cameras. Mayor Harrell said earlier this year that the city would not allocate money to a controversial gunshot detection technology system.
