By Catalina Gaitán
The Seattle Times
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — The Pierce County sheriff’s office deactivated its estimated 200 automated license plate readers Tuesday morning, saying the devices affixed to most deputies’ patrol cars cannot comply with the new regulations that went into effect Monday.
Gov. Bob Ferguson said Senate Bill 6002 — known as the Driver Privacy Act — would protect communities in the state from being targeted by federal immigration authorities. The law “strikes a balance” between helping law enforcement and protecting people’s privacy, he said.
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But the Pierce County sheriff’s office said there is no way to ensure its Axon dashboard cameras won’t collect data in areas prohibited under the new law, including near schools, courts, food banks, places of worship, and facilities where immigration matters are conducted or that provide reproductive or gender-affirming health care.
The law does not have different rules for “fixed” readers — stationary cameras that capture data and images at a specific location — and “mobile” devices like Pierce County’s, which are attached to movable objects like a patrol car.
“Anybody would be hopeful there would be a better system, and that we could still be within the law and use this great technology to keep our communities safe,” sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Carly Cappetto said. “But as it stands right now, the way the law is written, we don’t have the technology to just turn them off and on every time we’re driving through a school zone or by a hospital.”
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced a similar decision March 19, saying the city would turn off its mobile cameras until policies align with the new law. The cameras are installed on roughly 400 police patrol and parking enforcement vehicles in Seattle.
The Seattle Police Department shut off the readers the next day. The agency is now working with vendors to ensure any future use of the technology will not violate the new law, and it will not use the devices until that requirement is met, police spokesperson Sgt. Patrick Michaud said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council passed a new law mandating the city’s readers be shut off for 60 days if the technology’s data is targeted with a warrant, subpoena or court order related to a civil immigration matter. The limits mirror ones the council previously enacted around its police surveillance cameras.
“I hope we can all agree that we do not want data that is collected through (automated license plate readers) to be used against our residents for immigration action, reproductive health care or gender-affirming care,” said Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the bill’s sponsor.
The council also passed a new law limiting Seattle police officers’ ability to ask about immigration status, bringing the city in line with state law.
The Pierce County sheriff’s office installed readers inside most of its patrol cars and deputies started using them in early 2024. Since then, the technology has helped investigators find stolen cars, murder suspects and older people who have gone missing, Cappetto said.
The cameras automatically photograph the license plate numbers of any passing vehicle, then log the information into a database. The system issues an alert any time it detects a plate number associated with a criminal investigation, outstanding warrant or missing or endangered person.
Until state officials clarify how mobile readers can be brought into compliance with the law, Cappetto said deputies must return to “old school ways” of policing. That includes manually entering plate numbers into a database to determine whether a vehicle is associated with a crime or public safety issue — a less efficient process that deputies can’t do while they’re driving, she said.
“We don’t know if there’s going to be more guidance, and I think because it’s so new, we’re just shutting (the cameras) off,” she said. “We’ll kind of see how things play out.”
Jurisdictions across Washington — including Everett , Lynnwood , Olympia , Redmond and Skamania County — temporarily or permanently shut down their Flock Safety readers over the last year.
Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, a Tacoma Democrat, introduced the Driver Privacy Act in January in response to the onslaught of concerns over privacy, safety and potential use of footage for federal immigration enforcement.
Under the new law, public agencies in Washington are barred from using readers for immigration enforcement, and from sharing their data with anyone outside of the state, including the federal government. The law also exempts the footage from public disclosure, except for research purposes, and requires most data to be deleted within 21 days.
Seattle Times staff reporter David Kroman contributed to this report.
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