‘We were the soft target’: Jake and Spike back Saka’s $1M push for Seattle Center cameras

KIRO host Spike O’Neill argued that Seattle’s reluctance to use police cameras left the city exposed. He and co-host Jake Skorheim backed a Seattle City Council proposal to spend about $1 million on surveillance cameras at Seattle Center.

“We were the soft target,” Spike said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Seattle Councilmember Rob Saka, who represents District 1, has announced a package of 20 amendments to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed $9.1 billion budget for 2027-28. Wilson is trying to close a projected $175 million General Fund deficit through nearly $50 million in annual spending cuts and the elimination of 128 full-time positions.

One of Saka’s proposals would put about $1 million toward 31 cameras in and around Seattle Center, according to KOMO News. The proposal follows the July shooting at the Bite of Seattle, which killed three people and injured four. Under city ordinance, the Seattle Police Department would have to complete a Surveillance Impact Report before installing the cameras.

The hosts played a clip from Saka’s KOMO interview.

“A million dollars, in the context of the city’s broader $9.1 billion budget, would be a drop in the bucket, and it’d also be a very worthwhile investment,” Saka said.

Jake ran the numbers and found that $1 million is about 0.01% of the budget. He contrasted that with the roughly $80 million he says the city spends on its CARE crisis response department, which he said has about 40 deployable responders. Jake calls them the “Care Bears.”

“If you can send $80 million to the Care Bears, who have 40 people that can respond if somebody is having some sort of a breakdown in Seattle, you can spend a million bucks on cameras,” Jake said.

‘Sure would be nice if there was video evidence’

Jake recalled that Wilson resisted turning on police cameras during the World Cup while other host cities used them. According to Jake, Seattle was the last host city to agree, and Wilson turned the cameras off soon after the tournament ended.

Weeks later, the Bite of Seattle shooting happened. Jake noted that police arrested a 15-year-old, who has since been released on bail, and that two other suspects have not been caught.  The killer remains on the loose.

“Sure would be nice if there was video evidence to go off of, but they didn’t have it,” Jake said.

Spike pointed out that Seattle Center already has some cameras but also has blind spots. He argued that those gaps are why the city has asked the public for phone video of the shooting.

He compared partial coverage to an unfinished fence.

“Fences are complete. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a fence?” Spike said. “If you’re OK with cameras, you need complete coverage of the cameras.”

Seattle Center visitors weigh in

The hosts also played KOMO News interviews with people at Seattle Center. Most supported the idea.

“I think it’s definitely a necessity, especially with the crime. Probably would make it easier for people to catch whoever’s doing it,” one person told KOMO News.

One woman who works festivals at the center disagreed.

“We have never had any problem with that, and that’s been going on for 40 years,” she told KOMO News.

Spike rejected that reasoning.

“You can say you’ve never had a problem until you’ve had a problem,” Spike said. “This is a different world we live in.”

Wilson holds off on releasing camera audit

The hosts also played audio of KOMO’s Chris Daniels asking Wilson about a draft review of the city’s camera program by the NYU Policing Project. Wilson explained that her office and SPD are still checking the draft for accuracy.

“Once we complete that, then we will be releasing that report to the public. So no, you can’t have a copy today,” Wilson said.

Spike noted that the city gets to fact-check the audit but has no editorial control over its findings. He expects the audit to address Wilson’s privacy concerns.

Jake pointed out that the final decision still belongs to Wilson, and he doubts she can keep resisting. In his view, most people “seem to think that it’s a good idea to be able to catch bad guys doing bad things.”

“I don’t know how she can say no at this point,” Jake said.

The council’s public budget hearing is set for Nov. 5, and the council is expected to adopt the final budget by early December.

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