The Seattle Police Department for the first time revealed its Real Time Crime Center has access to hundreds more cameras than it previously reported.
Since launching last year, the number of surveillance cameras feeding live footage into the center has swelled to 427, even as concerns and debate over surveillance technology intensified. Those cameras comprise 308 installed by the Police Department, 96 operated by the city’s Transportation Department and 23 owned by three unidentified business owners in the East Precinct, police officials said Wednesday in a phone call.
An additional 893 privately owned cameras are registered with the crime center, allowing analysts to see the cameras’ locations and contact their owners to request footage when responding to a 911 call or during an investigation.
The Police Department’s use of private cameras caught the attention of Lisa Judge, the city’s inspector general for public safety, who flagged concerns in an annual review of police surveillance technology.
“(The Seattle Police Department’s) position now is they’re going to try to integrate cameras from anywhere in the city privately,” said Dan Pitts, an audit supervisor for the inspector general’s office. “They need to have clearer structure around the organization and criteria and retention.”
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