The cameras in the Stadium District were already used during the World Cup and will be activated immediately, she said. At a press conference Tuesday, Wilson also said she believes the new audit she commissioned from NYU’s Policing Project justifies that decision, though the mayor once opposed such an expansion on the campaign trail.

“After reviewing the evidence, the recommendations and the safeguards available to us, I believe there is an important and responsible role” for the Seattle Police Department’s Real-Time Crime Center and the use of cameras in a “targeted way,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the audit contained recommendations she will act on, but it did not flag concerns significant enough to keep delaying the planned additions. She said the audit findings convinced her that she can expand the cameras while naming a work group to implement the audit’s policy recommendations around data retention and other civil liberties and privacy “guardrails.”

“Seattle does not have to choose between taking crime seriously and taking civil liberties seriously,” Wilson said.

Wilson was joined by Interim Police Chief Andre Sayles, who sought to address critics wary of more surveillance technology, including the CCTV or closed-circuit television system.

“To those worried about privacy, about our most vulnerable and immigrant neighborhoods being targeted, or about illegal surveillance: I hear you,” Sayles said. “Like you, I get frustrated when I hear of government agencies misusing camera technology. That is not who we are.”

Sayles said Seattle has clear safeguards, regular auditing, and public engagement and notice before any camera expansion. He also touted the importance of the video footage to criminal investigations.

Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle praised Wilson’s decision as “pragmatic.” He said the NYU audit is a welcome addition to the city’s oversight and the Public Safety Committee he chairs will take up any proposed fixes to current city policies.

In April 2025, the city launched closed-circuit TV cameras in three areas: Chinatown-International District, Downtown, and Aurora. Those cameras remain in operation. In September 2025, the Seattle City Council voted to expand the cameras to the Stadium District, the area in the Central District around Garfield High School, and the Capitol Hill Nightlife District.

The latter three are the areas that will now be added to the existing ones, although Wilson said she isn’t sure how long it will take to purchase and install the cameras in the Central District and on Capitol Hill.

In the wake of July’s mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival at Seattle Center, some people called for surveillance cameras on that campus. Kettle said the initial camera placement was determined by crime data, and changing the focus to public venues would be “a different conversation.”

Do surveillance cameras keep us safe?

Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck welcomed the audit findings but said she still has questions about the efficacy of the CCTV system.

“I’m encouraged to hear that the mayor is dedicating resources to the recommendations,” Rinck said, “But I think the core difference is that I would prefer we address these in-house issues before seeking to expand this system.”

Wilson and Sayles were also joined by members of community groups who support the additional cameras.

Gabriel Neuman is the director of policy at the Greater Seattle Business Association, a statewide LGBTQ+ and allied business association. He said LGBTQ people have been harmed by police surveillance in the past, “but at the same time, we also understand our community needs additional support. Capitol Hill has had several instances of homicides particularly against our queer and trans neighbors, and we need a system in which those issues can be followed up with thoroughly.”

Neuman said his group appreciated Wilson’s previous decision to pause the camera expansion, but he trusts entities like the Inspector General and Community Police Commission to seek appropriate policies going forward.

Wilson’s decision to now expand the cameras is a reversal of her stance on the campaign trail a year ago, when she opposed it.

Speaking Tuesday, Wilson said she doesn’t want to oversell the ability of cameras to solve or prevent crime, acknowledging that the evidence is mixed. But she said “some of the more compelling arguments for me, talking to our officers and hearing anecdotally how these cameras have been used, is that we do have real issues with police staffing in our city.”

“I do think that the RTCC can help us be more efficient with our resources,” Wilson said.

She said an additional audit commissioned by the Inspector General and due from the University of Pennsylvania in 2027 could shed more light on how the cameras affect criminal cases.

The Community Not Cameras Coalition, made up of many people who supported Wilson’s candidacy for mayor, opposes the CCTV network. The group welcomed the NYU Policing Project audit and noted its warning that “once data exists, no city or agency can guarantee it will never be shared,” including with the federal government.

The group said the audit confirms that the Real-Time Crime Center has access to 538 cameras between police, traffic, city and private cameras.

“We call on Mayor Wilson to stop putting our community at risk,” the coalition said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes praised Wilson’s announcement.

“We commend Mayor Wilson for a thoughtful decision to leverage 21st century technology to keep Seattle safe,” he said. “There is strong public support for public safety cameras in our community and fortunately, our city already has stringent privacy guardrails in place to ensure cameras are used appropriately by law enforcement.”

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=5921644&forum_id=2#50252448)