11:23 AM: We’re at City Hall, where Mayor Katie Wilson and interim Police Chief Andre Sayles are about to brief the media on the long-promised results of a surveillance-camera (etc.) audit; in the words of the advisory, to: “announce next steps on CCTV cameras, following the NYU Policing Project’s audit of Seattle’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) and closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems.” You can see the audit report here. You can watch the livestream of this event here; the mayoral conference room here is packed. We’ll update as it goes.
The mayor says she’s motivated by concerns for people’s safety – both in the federal crackdown, and in violent crime.” She says she has three points: #1, the city has relatively few cameras compared to other cities of this size. She’s heard from camera opponents … and from residents and businesspeople victimized by shootings who want the city to use “every tool.” She has repeated several points of cameras’ pros and cons. She says the new audit also underscored that – saying some safeguards are in place, but there are gaps.