Issaquah staff say federal grant will pay for taser upgrades; ALPR portion paused after community concerns

Issaquah city staff told the Committee of the Whole on May 11 that a federal Community Appropriations grant originally drafted to fund both new conducted‑energy devices (CEDs, commonly called tasers) and automated license‑plate readers (ALPRs) will be used primarily for taser replacements and interview‑room cameras, and that the ALPR component is not being advanced at this time.

The move follows weeks of public comment and expert testimony about privacy, data sharing and the architecture of commercial ALPR systems. Assistant to the City Administrator Dale Markey Crimp and Issaquah crime analyst Ryan Smith said the grant award totals $452,477; after an updated vendor quote raised the price of CEDs to about $447,900, staff said roughly 99% of the funding would cover CED replacements with the remaining $4,517 to upgrade interview‑room cameras. "Given the increased costs and community concerns, we're not moving forward with the ALPR portion of that proposal right now," Markey Crimp said.

The administration emphasized the department’s operational needs. Ryan Smith described the application process for the Byrne discretionary/community appropriations funding and said the police department first drafted proposals for both CEDs and ALPRs but that the panel reviewing community projects suggested a single combined request; after award and an updated quote, staff prioritized CEDs. Sergeant Asbell outlined safety and transparency features in modern CED models, including longer range, improved accuracy, and integration with the Axon body‑camera system that can automatically mark events. "The new devices provide additional transparency and training integrations that our current equipment lacks," Asbell said.

That technical testimony was balanced by concerns from residents and researchers. Phil Neff, research coordinator at the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, described prior audits of Flock system records and said his center found instances where out‑of‑state or federal searches occurred and a pilot program that briefly gave federal agents lookup access to networks. "Audit logs we reviewed showed searches by out‑of‑state agencies and a pilot that exposed networks to federal access in 2025," Neff said. Neff and several public commenters urged local ordinances and strong guardrails if the city ever considered ALPR systems that rely on cloud‑hosted, third‑party networks.

Kent Police Commander Bava, who described Kent’s experience with ALPRs, said the technology had helped solve crimes — including missing persons and fleeing suspects — but he also highlighted steps his agency took to implement vendor and legal safeguards under Washington law. "Vendors and the Attorney General’s guidance have introduced restrictions that prevent non‑Washington agencies from seeing our data via the system itself," Bava said, while acknowledging that illegal exports or misuse outside the system remain a risk.

Council members thanked residents and staff and pressed for clarity. Several members said they support accepting grant funds for CEDs but want written assurances limiting use of the award to those items and not to ALPR purchases. City Administrator Bob Quits told council the mayor has "no plans to move forward" with ALPR purchases without returning to council. Council members asked staff to prepare clearer grant‑acceptance language and to develop proposed local guardrails or ordinance language for later council review.

The administration indicated it plans to bring the formal grant acceptance back to a council meeting in mid‑June and to present draft ALPR policy/ordinance language in July. No formal vote was taken on May 11; the item was informational and will return for action.

What happens next: the council is slated to consider accepting the federal grant at an upcoming council meeting; staff said they will propose acceptance language that specifies the spending plan (CEDs and interview‑room cameras only) and will return with draft local policy and potential ordinance language related to ALPR use and data sharing for further deliberation.