Seattle Police Department unveils high-tech crime center, raising privacy concerns
Jul 15, 2025, 6:55 PM
Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled SPD's high-tech crime center. (Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief Shon Barnes officially unveiled the city’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC).
It is a high-tech center on the 7th floor of SPD’s headquarters in downtown Seattle, but its reach is citywide.
A team of analysts works 19 hours a day, seven days a week. They monitor video and data streams to provide real-time analysis to officers on the street. The center has already supported hundreds of investigations.
Seattle Police Department’s crime center seeing success but raising privacy concerns
The center officially went online on May 20. There have already been early successes in identifying suspects, assisting with locations, and making arrests. But there are concerns about privacy.
“We control where all of our data goes. We do not have open sharing, anybody can access it. We control who gets to look at what we get,” SPD Capt. Jim Britt said.
Barnes said the center is part of a larger plan to make Seattle safer.
“I stand on the side of crime prevention, not just responding to crime, but we want to ensure that we have less victims than we had the year prior,” he explained.
Cameras are located along Aurora Avenue in North Seattle, in the downtown core, and in the Chinatown-International District. However, more cameras are expected to be installed.
Follow James Lynch on X. Read more of his stories here. Submit news tips here.
