Seattle council member points to marathon bombing in push for World Cup cameras

Wearing a Boston Marathon jacket and holding up the finisher’s medal he earned the day of the 2013 bombing, Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka made an emotional plea for Mayor Katie Wilson to turn on security cameras in the Stadium District before the FIFA World Cup arrives.

“In 2013, me and my wife ran the Boston Marathon,” Saka told colleagues during Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting. “And then the first of the bombs went off, and I’ll never forget. And then another device exploded shortly thereafter.”

Saka, who represents the district where World Cup matches will be played, said the experience shaped his views on public safety and surveillance technology. He credited closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras with helping law enforcement identify the Boston attackers and prevent further tragedy.

Now vice-chair of the council’s Public Safety Committee, Saka said Seattle risks being caught off-guard for the World Cup.

“The stadium district cameras have already been authorized,” Saka said. “The infrastructure exists, and I believe that waiting for a purported credible threat before activating those tools is far too reactive for an event of this magnitude.”

Katie Wilson paused CCTV cameras in March, ordering privacy audit before activation

Wilson announced in March that the cameras would not be activated unless a “credible threat” was identified. She said the surveillance pilot had been “expanded before many policies have been formalized, and before its outcomes have been evaluated,” and ordered a privacy and data governance audit.

“This is a decision about more than cameras,” Wilson said. “It’s about how we approach public safety, how we build trust, and how we show up for communities across this city.”

Saka said the city’s reluctance to use even basic camera technology was difficult to defend on the world stage.

“People who seek to do our community harm, whether it’s a domestic terrorist act, foreign terrorism, or other criminal act — they’re using the latest technology and tools, and we’re hamstrung,” he said.

Public Safety Committee Chair Bob Kettle backed Saka’s push, noting the cameras were already authorized and funded by the council.

“All these other World Cup cities are all blue cities,” Kettle said. “The protections that we put in are incredible — the protocols, the computer audits, everything and above.”

Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera, who also sits on the committee, drew on her own roots in New York City, where cameras blanket the subway system and public spaces.

“You have to anticipate all the things that could go wrong and try to plan for that, and then hope none of those things happen,” Rivera said. “But you do need to be prepared, and that includes all of the tools at our disposal.”

Officers 3 times more likely to make arrests when using Real-Time Crime Center, SPD says

A Seattle Police Department (SPD) analysis of 220,000 emergency responses found officers are three times more likely to make an arrest when working with Real-Time Crime Center analysts. The center also helped detectives make arrests in 53% of 2025 homicide cases, according to SPD Chief Shon Barnes.

KIRO Newsradio has reached out to Wilson’s office for comment.

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