Audits find Seattle Police tapping SDOT feeds sent by mistake — and private cameras on Capitol Hill

A security camera above 12th Ave

Two newly released reports reveal that Seattle’s expanding camera network has outpaced city safeguards, sweeping up sensitive traffic feeds by mistake and pulling in private security cameras — including feeds on Capitol Hill — without clear rules.

Both audits were conducted under the Seattle Municipal Code which requires independent oversight offices to annually examine the Seattle Police Department and city’s approved surveillance tools for privacy risks, civil liberties impacts, and legal compliance.

The review by the Office of Inspector General warned that police and city leaders failed to set basic standards before connecting private business and property feeds into the Seattle Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center. Unlike city cameras, which use digital masking to black out apartment and hotel windows, the department cannot easily control third-party devices. If a business owner angles a camera into non-public spaces or archives video for months, police have no formal process to catch or correct the issue.

While the pilot has launched in downtown, Aurora, and the International District, investigators say the SPD plan to link private feeds citywide has been moving forward without adequate safeguards and has already integrated two private camera locations in Capitol Hill within SPD’s East Precinct without specific geographic limits.

OIG investigators concluded that the city’s approved surveillance impact reports left the rules for private cameras largely undefined, neither expressly permitting nor prohibiting expansion across the entire city. Although Mayor Katie Wilson paused adding city-owned cameras to new neighborhoods including the Central District and Capitol Hill, she did not state limits on private systems.

In August, police confirmed to auditors that they intend to accept integrations from any volunteering business across Seattle, and mapping revealed that the department had already activated two Capitol Hill private camera sites beginning in 2025.

The report did not disclose specific business names or street addresses for the two Capitol Hill sites, showing only their general orange placement pins on the department’s central integration map.

In March, CHS reported on a single security camera perched atop the Community Roots Housing mixed-use 12th Ave Arts development and focused on the street just across from the East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine. CHS asked a SPD spokesperson how the camera above 12th Ave was being used. “Security,” was the reply.

Meanwhile, a report by the City Auditor found that the Seattle Department of Transportation accidentally handed police access to technical roadway detection cameras that were not supposed to be shared. Unlike public traffic feeds visible on city transit maps, officials said these non-public cameras were sent to SPD on an integration list by error. SDOT is now attempting to revoke police access to those internal streams.

The findings come amid ongoing tensions over surveillance reach. The auditor cautioned that SDOT’s traffic camera decisions could carry unintended civil liberties consequences when linked to law enforcement. Police agreed to establish clear guidelines for private cameras by March 2027 and limit review to public spaces.

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