Seattle PD Refuses Release Of Secret CCTV Footage

In February, HardPressed revealed that the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has been using a secret-no-more CCTV camera on Capitol Hill.

The camera was perfectly positioned to livestream and record one of the most volatile, expressive, joyous, and controversial moments in Seattle history, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). This area was crawling with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informants, plain clothes FBI agents, plain clothes SPD officers, and the subject of an FBI domestic terrorism investigation.

Naturally, HardPressed submitted a public records request for CCTV footage from this secret camera during the CHOP period in 2020.

In response, SPD wrote to HardPressed that "a detailed search of our retained records was completed with no responsive records located."

We've seen this show before, where SPD says they have no records, where in reality, they do. That's exactly what happened with a request for these text messages between SPD's federal monitor and SPD executives.

Knowing this, HardPressed appealed SPD's closure of the CCTV public records request. In response, SPD wrote that it did, in fact, locate videos recorded from this secret CCTV camera, but that "these videos cannot be released at this time," due to an ongoing homicide investigation into the killing of Antonio Mays Jr.

Under RCW 42.56.240(1), a law enforcement agency is allowed to withhold release of public records if they are part of an ongoing investigation.

"This case is under active investigation and non-disclosure is essential to effective law enforcement," SPD wrote to HardPressed. 

So videos from this secret camera do exist, but SPD refuses to release them.

How active this investigation is remains unknown.