The bill would require public agencies to delete any footage their cameras — such as those sold by Flock Safety or those installed on Seattle police patrol cars — collect within 72 hours. There would be some exceptions, including retaining footage that could help police investigate a violent crime.
The bill would also require anyone outside an agency to obtain a search warrant to view the agency's database. Trudeau, D-Tacoma, plans to formally introduce the bill next week, just before the state Legislature is set to begin its session for the year.
The bill comes as cities and police agencies across the state have turned off or suspended their Flock cameras over swelling concerns about privacy, safety and potential use of footage for federal immigration enforcement.
The proposed legislation’s 72-hour limit “came as a compromise” after researching laws in 16 other states and speaking with law enforcement members and civil rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, Trudeau said.
The majority of footage generated by Flock Safety’s cameras is not viewed or downloaded before being automatically deleted from a cloud-based storage system within 30 days, according to the company.
Representatives for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs declined to be interviewed for this story, but spokesperson Barbara Smith said the organization has reviewed Trudeau's proposal and will “continue to have constructive dialogue” with her and other lawmakers.
In a November statement, the association's executive director, Steve Strachan, said the cameras, like other policing tools, are used not to erode freedoms but to protect them."
Trudeau said while her proposal won't satisfy the cameras' fiercest advocates or critics, it will "make sense to everyone."
“If you’re going to deploy a technology that has the potential to be wielded against the people you are protecting, you have to understand what it takes to deploy that technology responsibly," she said.
Automated license plate readers in the spotlight
The devices, also called automated license plate readers, exploded in popularity over the past decade, as vendors advertised them to police agencies as tools for helping find stolen cars, missing and endangered people and crime suspects.
The cameras capture up to a dozen time-stamped photos of any passing vehicles. Artificial intelligence software analyzes and stores the images and information about each vehicle — including its license plate number, bumper stickers and damage — into a searchable database controlled by the customer.
As the devices’ popularity soared, privacy and civil rights advocates warned that the images and data could be used to track people's movements and behaviors.
Such criticism spiked after University of Washington researchers in October published a report showing federal immigration enforcement agencies had searched the Flock Safety databases of at least 18 police agencies in the state, often without their knowledge.
A Skagit County Superior Court judge's ruling that Flock Safety footage must be made public under state law exacerbated fears of the footage potentially being used for stalking and harassment.
Redmond and Lynnwood turned off their cameras in October, followed by the Skamania County sheriff’s office in November. Mountlake Terrace’s City Council recently voted unanimously to cancel that city's Flock Safety contract.
Concerns reverberated to the state’s capital, where Olympia police placed black hoods over the city’s 15 cameras before uninstalling them in December. At a Dec. 3 city meeting, police Chief Shelby Parker said removing the cameras might slow her investigators, but that the public’s trust was “too important to risk.”
Since August 2024 when the cameras were installed, the footage — about 4 million images per month — helped Olympia police recover 29 stolen cars, and was used in 112 cases ending in arrests, including one kidnapping and six homicides, she said.
Without the cameras, Parker said it could take investigators more time to identify and find stolen cars, crime suspects and missing people.
Nevertheless, “it’s true this tool has helped us move faster, but it never replaced our skill," Parker said. “We’ll adapt.”
Hillary Moralez acting chair of the 44th Legislative District Democrats, agreed.
The organization, which covers towns such as Snohomish and Mill Creek, called for a statewide removal of Flock Safety cameras in November.
The group pointed to UW's report and examples such as a KING 5 report saying Redmond police arrested the wrong person in August based on information from Flock Safety.
“These kinds of (technologies) are a genie in a bottle, and once you let it out, it’s really hard to get it back,” said Moralez. “And if you give up that one ounce of security, you could be giving up so much more.”
Police agencies and cities should reconsider using the cameras until some regulations are in place, Moralez said. She said it’s possible Trudeau’s legislation will “strike a good balance between preventing crime and protecting people's privacy and civil rights.
“We are giving up a ton of security to find a few stolen cars,” Moralez said. “Why do we need to have those for a smaller problem that could be handled by humans?”
Lawmakers had sought to regulate the cameras in 2019. But a bill to require public agencies to delete most footage within 12 hours died, Trudeau said, adding that the public wasn't paying close attention at the time.
The situation is different now, she said.
“Knowing people are so afraid and that we’re trying to build trust with law enforcement, we need to look very, very closely when we’re using this technology,” Trudeau said. “People can’t really ignore it.”
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