A group of activists and cybersecurity experts raised concerns about the Seattle Police Department's surveillance technology on Monday, saying they were worried about the company powering it and whether the footage was secure.
I believe that this system is structurally dangerous," said Noah Williams, a cybersecurity engineer who spoke at a news conference held by the Community Not Cameras coalition on City Hall's steps. "These cameras are just physical manifestations of a larger surveillance state with exceptional power."
The department's Real-Time Crime Center, and a proposed expansion of closed-circuit television cameras integrated with the center, has become a lightning rod during Mayor Katie Wilson's term. In her first seven months on the job, she turned off the surveillance cameras in the stadium district, then turned them on for the FIFA World Cup, then ordered them back off.
Now, in the wake of a shooting that killed three people and injured at least four more at Seattle Center, debate around the cameras has escalated.
The Real-Time Crime Center — essentially an integrated data network that aggregates multiple sources of video and data streams to respond to incidents — was activated in May 2025. It combines dozens of closed-circuit television cameras posted in crime hot spots with computer-aided dispatch data and 911 calls, allowing staff to review relevant information as incidents occur and communicate with officers in the field.
The feeds are powered and integrated by Axon's Fusus software. Fusus has been deployed by law enforcement agencies to unify live video and field data into one interface.
Wilson has stated that any further expansion is pending an audit her office commissioned from New York University, expected by the end of the year. In the meantime, existing cameras along Aurora Avenue North, in the Chinatown International District and in downtown Seattle remain on.
Wilson's position on the cameras has drawn ire from both sides of the issue.
About a dozen operators and organizers of public events, including Seafair, Downtown Seattle Association and Climate Pledge Arena, urged Wilson to reactivate cameras in the stadium district and expand their use to Seattle Center following the Bite of Seattle shooting. Police cameras have not been formally proposed for the Seattle Center.
On Monday, six members of the Community Not Cameras coalition toured the Real-Time Crime Center with Police Department staff. At a news conference afterward, members of the coalition expressed concern that the software is operated by Axon, a police technology company operating globally.
"Everybody has been bamboozled by this one vendor," coalition member Phil Mocek said. "Axon is not a police equipment company; they're a data broker, and our city is selling our public data."
Axon has said in the past that agencies control their own data, including how they access it and how long it's kept. If Axon receives a request for data, it's routed to the agency.
Leah Salerno, a member of the Seattle Solidarity Budget, said the tour "confirmed and strengthened" her concerns about the surveillance system, and she believes arguments about increasing arrests to be "disingenuous."
"We just toured the RTCC, and the employees themselves talked about their lack of policies and their concerns," Salerno said.
For instance, Salerno said, employees have to manually "mask" views into private residences that cameras capture; and audit procedures are limited in scope. "The question we asked was: 'If Axon gets a subpoena, how do you find out about it?' And they weren't sure," Salerno said.
Williams, the cybersecurity engineer with the Community Not Cameras coalition, who is also a member of the Transit Riders Union, said that Axon gives the city "the illusion of control."
"They can stream our footage to their cloud platform without telling us," he said. "And if they can do it, so can anyone who hacks them, and so can the federal government."
The Seattle Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Real-Time Crime Center and activists' statements.
CCTV cameras do not have automated license plate reader technology, but some Seattle police vehicles do. The cameras and software have "object recognition" abilities, like being able to identify certain cars, but do not use facial recognition technology, according to the Police Department. The department limits local storage retention to five days and moves video evidence to evidential storage if it is needed for an investigation.
Also on Monday, the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce released findings from an online survey of 500 registered voters in Seattle: 75% of respondents said they strongly or somewhat supported using the cameras to assist in an active investigation after a 911 call.
“Seattle voters have provided a clear road map for action," Metro Chamber CEO Joe Nguyễn said in a news release. "They support using cameras to investigate crime, maintaining a strong public safety presence where problems persist, and delivering a public safety action plan with measurable goals and regular accountability.
The city-commissioned audit by New York University will examine the cameras' potential risks to privacy and civil rights, particularly when it comes to Washington's Shield Act and immigration enforcement.
At the same time, the University of Pennsylvania is conducting a separate evaluation, overseen by the city’s Office of Inspector General for Public Safety, focused on evaluating crimes, outcomes of investigations, how police operate and community perceptions of the police camera program.
Results of both are expected in September.
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