Mayor orders license-plate readers turned off temporarily, and other surveillance decisions
Hundreds of Seattle Police vehicles are equipped with automated license-plate readers (ALPRs), and if you listen to police radio, you’ll hear multiple calls every day where officers turn up stolen cars because of an “ALPR hit.” It also turns out that’s how they were alerted to a Silver Alert subject’s presence in Admiral on Monday. But ALPRs also raise privacy concerns, as they routinely gather information potentially linking people to certain locations. So SPD cars won’t be using them for a while, as one of Mayor Katie Wilson‘s surveillance decisions announced this afternoon. She also announced:
-Expansion of surveillance pilot paused “until we have completed a privacy and data governance audit, and taken significant steps to strengthen those policies”
-SPD’s Real-Time Crime Center “will continue to operate and existing cameras will remain in place”
-Cameras planned for installation soon in the Stadium District will be installed “given the unique nature of the upcoming World Cup and the current geopolitical situation” but “they will not be turned on and will not be connected to the RTCC unless we are aware of a credible threat which warrants such action.”
-An installed camera that “has a view of a facility which provides reproductive health care and gender-affirming care” will be turned off “until we’ve completed a comprehensive security audit and have stronger safeguards in place”
-All cameras will be turned off “in the event of a surge of immigration enforcement similar to what was seen in Minneapolis”
Mayor Wilson’s announcement about the ALPRs noted that state legislators “recently added welcome new restrictions to limit the potential abuse of this technology” so she wants to pause their use “until we can ensure that our practices are consistent with the new state law and reflect the best safety and security policies.” The bill that passed the legislature is this one, awaiting the governor’s signature.
The mayor’s full speech about surveillance is in video above, and you can read it online here.
