Seattle officials back statewide ALPR limits but seek targeted fix to protect mobile systems
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Summary
At a Feb. 23 City Council briefing, OIR staff described Senate Bill 6002’s 21‑day retention and restricted-use rules for automatic license-plate readers; councilmembers urged support while OIR requested a targeted change so vehicle-mounted (mobile) ALPRs in Seattle are not blocked by the bill’s sensitive‑location restriction.
At a Feb. 23 Seattle City Council briefing, Office of Intergovernmental Relations Director Nina Hashemi and staff updated councilmembers on state legislation affecting the city, including Senate Bill 6002, which would set statewide standards for automatic license‑plate reader (ALPR) systems.
Council member Kettle urged the council to support SB 6002 and emphasized that Seattle’s ALPR program differs from commercial fixed‑camera deployments. “We do not use flock in, in city of Seattle,” Kettle said, referring to the commercial fixed‑post system commonly called Flock Safety. He told colleagues Seattle’s ALPRs are primarily vehicle‑mounted and tied to the Real Time Crime Center.
Anna Johnson of OIR described key provisions of SB 6002: it would lower or set a statewide retention period for ALPR data to 21 days; define narrow authorized uses (for example criminal investigations and parking enforcement); prohibit ALPR use for immigration investigations and certain protected‑activity monitoring; require reporting, auditing and vendor standards; and create a public‑records exemption for data held only for the retention period. "This bill includes a lowering of the retention period ... to 21 days," Johnson said.
Council members pressed OIR on how the bill treats ‘‘sensitive locations’’ such as health‑care providers and schools. Johnson and Sameer Janajo said the bill includes a section prohibiting collection at enumerated sensitive locations, which raised practical concerns for Seattle because the city’s ALPRs are mobile and can pass sensitive sites without a practical way to stop collection. OIR said it is requesting a targeted change to apply the sensitive‑location restriction to fixed ALPR systems (cameras mounted continuously at a location), while allowing Seattle’s vehicle‑mounted ALPRs to continue operating.
OIR staff also said the bill limits interstate or third‑party uses through strict querying, auditing and protocol rules, and includes a provision to bar public‑records requests for personally identifiable ALPR data held only for the short retention window.
Several councilmembers expressed conditional support for SB 6002’s combination of a 21‑day retention limit and restrictions on automated bulk queries (PDRs). Council member Foster voiced concerns about protections for vulnerable populations and cross‑jurisdictional data sharing and asked whether school districts had taken positions; OIR said it was not aware Seattle Public Schools had publicly taken a position.
The briefing concluded with OIR committing to follow up with technical language on the proposed targeted change and to continue stakeholder engagement. No formal council vote on the bill occurred at the briefing; OIR noted that SB 6002 was scheduled for executive session in the Legislature the day after the briefing.
