Through the Static

by Hannah Saunders

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson dropped her 2027 proposed budget, and leftist activists across the city are pushing back against the increase in Seattle Police Department (SPD) funding. Most recently, the Community Not Cameras Coalition, whose members helped get Mayor Wilson elected, highlighted how the budget hides SPD surveillance costs while upping the funds for cameras before audits on their effectiveness have been released.

Mayor Wilson’s 2027 proposed budget includes a $68 million increase, or $566 million in total for the SPD during an ongoing budget crisis. This year, the department received $488.6 million. Interim Seattle Police Chief Andre Sayles even made the decision to temporarily pause financial hiring incentives due to budget constraints, as previously reported by TtS.

“Every dollar that funds them is not spent on the programs that prevent violence. Cameras do not stop bullets,” the Coalition said. “The budget does not say what the pieces of these systems actually cost the people of Seattle.”

CCTV, automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), and the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) are expected to be funded in 2027. The Coalition emphasized how the terms “Axon,” “CCTV,” “license plate reader,” and “surveillance,” are nowhere to be found in SPD’s proposed budget document. It also stated that software subscriptions and cloud storage fees for this surveillance technology are hidden under categories, such as “Technical Surveillance,” leading to a lack of transparency for the public.

Regarding the RTCC, which SPD uses to monitor surveillance data, the only changes are the removal of funding for three empty analyst positions.

“This is not a cut. It is a vacancy. A cost the budget does not show is a cost the public cannot debate,” the Coalition said.

CCTV footage is uploaded to the Axon server, evidence.com, which uses Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Not only has Axon collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security in providing technical resources, including body-worn video cameras, but both Microsoft and Amazon have profited off of and are complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. The SPD has zero control over evidence.com, where that footage travels to, or how it is used. Activists have previously noted the ridiculousness of Mayor Wilson expecting residents to simply trust police, who continue to brutalize and kill community members.

The Coalition stated that the City relies on “informal verbal agreements,” with Axon when it pertains to deployed features, and that analysis of possible misuse is limited to ten random searches per month.

Walking back on campaign promises

Shortly after stepping into office, Mayor Wilson walked back on her campaign promise to decrease surveillance. The Community Not Cameras Coalition has been advocating to dismantle the City’s surveillance systems since February, and has recently been encouraging elected officials to invest in proven anti-violence measures.

Constituents grew frustrated and nicknamed the mayor “Shady Katie,” and in March, Mayor Wilson noted that there would be a full audit of the City’s surveillance systems, having stated that, “It is not good governance to expand a pilot program without completing a full evaluation of its impacts.”

The University of Pennsylvania is conducting an audit on the effectiveness of the RTCC, while the NYU Policing Project is reviewing civil rights and governance of the RTCC. Mayor Wilson previously said the audits are expected to be released in late September or early October, but King5 recently reported that the NYU Policing Project experienced a miscommunication, and will release its audit in late October.

“This budget funds the entire surveillance network before the results are in. Concealing vendor costs inside broad budget lines prevents public debate on programs that fail to prevent gun violence,” the Coalition said.

What does the Coalition want?

On Sept. 15, the Coalition delivered a letter to the Seattle City Council demanding investments in proven community violence prevention strategies and resources, like the Regional Peacekeepers Collective. Over 50 local organizations and more than 500 community members signed-on. The Coalition is continuing to emphasize the three demands in that letter:

1.) Increase community-led programs that have shown positive results in violent crime reduction.

2.) Deny the expansion of ALPRs, CCTV, and the RTCC in the 2027 proposed budget.

3,) Divert all funding for surveillance in the proposed budget to community violence prevention programs.

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