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Council liaison previews license‑plate camera presentation, says proposal would be a public‑safety tool not a revenue source
Summary
Council liaison Councilmember Murray said the city will receive a police presentation on a vendor that records license plates for investigations; she emphasized the system is likely an expense, not a revenue-generating traffic camera program, and that the session is a nonbinding work session.
Councilmember Erin Murray, the city liaison to the DEI Commission, told commissioners the city council will hear a police presentation on a vendor that records passing vehicles’ license plates and stores the data for short periods to aid investigations.
Murray said the technology is distinct from red-light or speed‑camera programs that are designed to generate citations or revenue. “It would be actually an additional budget expenditure, and it is really just focused on the tracking of license plates, in support of public safety,” she said, and added that the city has not yet decided on purchase, deployment or retention policies.
The presentation is scheduled as a work session item; Murray emphasized that the council will not vote on a contract at that meeting. She told commissioners she had reviewed public materials and expected questions about privacy protections, retention periods and the expected operational costs. Murray said police described the vendor as storing plate data for a limited period (she said she believed it to be 30 days) so investigators could consult records for Amber Alerts or other public-safety cases.
Commissioner William raised the question of whether the system could produce revenue as some automated enforcement cameras do; Murray reiterated that the vendor model described to the council would not generate revenue for Mountlake Terrace but would increase the city’s costs. Commissioners flagged privacy and civil‑liberties questions as topics they planned to raise when the presentation is made to council.
Separately, Murray said the council will also discuss an interlocal agreement (ILA) to use jail services with neighboring jurisdictions. Both items were presented to commissioners as information for a forthcoming council discussion, not as decisions by the city.
