SEATTLE – On Tuesday, September 9, Seattle City Council will vote on Council Bill 121052 and Council Bill 121053 which propose considerable expansion of the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) piloted use of Closed-Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) and Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) surveillance technologies.
The ACLU of Washington, One America, and Asian Counseling and Referral Services issued the following joint statement condemning the proposals:
We oppose the spread of surveillance technologies and call upon the Seattle City Council to decline expansion of the pilot project. Before its implementation, numerous community organizations and the city’s own Surveillance Advisory Working Group expressed serious concerns about the potential harm the technologies in this pilot would cause, especially to immigrant, refugee, and other vulnerable communities. Despite these concerns, the city proceeded with pilot implementation and now seeks to expand it.
Research shows CCTV cameras do not reduce violent crime or make our communities safer. Instead, they violate people’s privacy and civil liberties, harm communities where they are deployed, and waste police resources. These cameras capture sensitive data about individuals’ movements and actions – data that SPD will most likely not be able to protect from misuse by those seeking to target immigrants, transgender individuals, and other community members most impacted by racism and oppression, as well as those exercising their First Amendment rights to speech and association.
We know that federal authorities are currently using these tools and the data they capture to surveil immigrants and those seeking gender affirming care. Seattle’s immigrant communities already face unprecedented attacks in this moment. Families are being torn apart, our neighbors are scared to go to work, and children fear going to school and coming home to an empty home. Once surveillance data is collected, it is notoriously challenging to protect against federal misuse. Despite commitments from Washington state to guard this data, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have successfully accessed data from the Washington Healthcare Authority and the Washington Department of Licensing. Seattle should not line up to be next.
The Seattle City Council has rushed this decision without fully engaging with the communities who are most vulnerable to the harm these technologies create. We stand together to ask that the City Council vote “no” on expanding government surveillance.
We ask that the City of Seattle:
- Delay expansion of the surveillance pilot program until comprehensive evaluation data is available and federal data access protections can be guaranteed;
- Conduct meaningful community engagement with immigrant, refugee, and other vulnerable communities about the impacts of these technologies; and
- Invest instead in evidence-based community safety programs that actually reduce harm while strengthening community trust.
Signed,
The ACLU of Washington
One America
Asian Counseling and Referral Service