Bainbridge council funds $15,000 outreach to study speed‑camera program after privacy concerns

The Bainbridge Island City Council voted 4–1 on March 10 to authorize up to $15,000 for pre‑implementation community engagement to study an automated traffic‑safety camera (speed‑camera) program.

Deputy Mayor opened the discussion and Sgt. Testaia, who led the presentation, said the city had identified specific problem locations and stressed that the cameras would be limited by law to images of vehicles and license plates and that photos would be purged after adjudication. "By law, only the vehicle and plate are captured by the camera," Testaia said, adding that images "are removed when we are done with them." He said preliminary studies, and experience in nearby Poulsbo, show the cameras can drastically reduce speed violations in school zones.

The proposed pre‑implementation plan calls for multilingual public outreach (mailers, targeted neighborhood notices, two in‑person meetings and one virtual forum), stakeholder engagement with schools and equity partners, and vendor vetting. Testaia said the department recommends limited consultant support of about $15,000 to strengthen early engagement and measure community sentiment.

Council members pressed staff on privacy and cybersecurity safeguards. Council member Nelson warned that images "are stored and then purged, but they're not really ever gone," and asked whether a sophisticated actor could hack the system. "Couldn’t somebody hack into these cameras?" she asked. Sgt. Testaia acknowledged the theoretical risk and said the city would rely on strict vendor selection, access logs and audits to reduce vulnerability.

Council member Schneider moved to authorize the interim city manager to engage a consultant in an amount not to exceed $15,000 for the pre‑implementation engagement. Council member Land seconded. The motion passed 4–1, with Nelson opposing. Deputy Mayor and other councilors emphasized that the outreach is intended to inform whether the city should proceed, not to presume implementation.

If the council directs staff to proceed after outreach, subsequent steps would include a comprehensive implementation plan, vendor selection and logistical coordination with schools and utilities; Sgt. Testaia estimated a roughly six‑month timeline from vendor selection to hardware installation at a site.

The council asked staff to report back on the outreach findings before any decision to install cameras.