The Council's Parks Committee voted on protocols to guide use of police
surveillance cameras in four center city parks: Cal Anderson on Capitol
Hill, Hing Hay in the International District, Occidental in Pioneer
Square, and Victor Steinbrueck adjacent to the Pike Place Market. All
four parks generate frequent complaints about graffiti and other
crimes.
You can read newspaper coverage of the committee's action here and here. The full Council passed the protocols on Monday, June 9th.
However, I believe a more significant issue was also decided when the city's information technology director agreed that future camera installations would be temporary, utilizing WiFi technology, instead of permanent. While nothing bars the city from permanently installing anti-crime cameras in public places where there is no assumption of privacy, I urged city officials to adopt a different approach.
Police camera surveillance is a practice that raises reasonable concerns in people's minds about increasing government intrusion into our private lives. I believe we must acknowledge these concerns and address them in a manner that strengthens the social environment surrounding civil liberties. I am leery of moving to quickly or aggressively down a path leading to widespread surveillance. I personally don't want to go that direction.
Temporary installations based on specific facts and circumstances that lead police to believe cameras could serve as deterrence or help solve crimes, instead of permanent installations, would significantly reduce civil liberty concerns. As someone has suggested to me, temporary installations are much like police emphasis patrols. Such focused patrols are used in specific places, at specific times, and are then removed when no longer needed. This should be our model for use of surveillance cameras, too.
Further Resources—The Constitution Project, a group composed of a wide range of political persuasions, has published extensively on the topic of police surveillance cameras. Their materials are excellent, including model legislation.