‘I’ve seen no evidence to suggest there’s a breach’: Seattle police union president says mayor should turn CCTV cameras back on

After Seattle’s final World Cup match, Mayor Katie Wilson turned the Stadium District CCTV cameras back off, honoring a commitment she made when they were first activated. She cited lingering privacy concerns, including worries that the data collected could be shared with federal authorities for immigration enforcement.

But Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) President Kent Loux pushed back on Wilson’s decision, telling “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio that the cameras should have stayed on because they serve as a critical tool for law enforcement and there’s no evidence the system has been compromised.

“I think they should be turned on,” Loux said. “I don’t know of any evidence to suggest that there’s a breach in the system, to suggest that the feds are kind of looking in or overseeing anything at all. And this is a force multiplier for us as police and law enforcement, and I think, coupled with the other things that we’re struggling with in this city, I think these are the tools that we need. Really, our goal should be protecting the most productive and the most vulnerable.”

“I understand the privacy concerns, and I appreciate that,” he continued. “But right now, I mean, we’re catching criminals, we’re holding people accountable. These are sometimes the only witnesses we have to these crimes.”

‘It’s just causing more work for officers’: SPOG president wants CCTV cameras kept on

Loux noted that law enforcement still has access to other cameras, including Ring doorbells and private business footage, but argued that Wilson’s decision to shut off the ones she controls is making the job harder by forcing detectives to do additional legwork to gather evidence that the CCTV system could have provided.

“Could they not be using the Ring cameras? Could they not be using any of the other cameras?” he said. “It’s not that these cameras are the only technology that the city has. I mean, there’s just gonna be canvassing for more. For private cameras, for business cameras, for things like that. So I understand from that perspective, like these are the cameras that she controls and that she can turn off, but the reality is it’s just causing more work for officers, for detectives.”

KIRO host Spike O’Neill noted that surveillance data from various cameras is already being collected and stored, and said he doesn’t understand Wilson’s rationale for keeping the Stadium District cameras off if she’s been given assurances that the necessary safeguards exist.

“Why can’t we walk and chew gum at the same time?” Loux responded. “Why can’t we have the cameras open and up and operational, collecting that data, but also conducting an audit at the same time?”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3