Mayor Katie Wilson announced an expansion of Seattle’s CCTV surveillance network Thursday, telling a closed press conference of Seattle journalists she had little choice but to hire US Department of Homeland Security contractor Axon to provide the system.
Axon, a multi-billion dollar weapons manufacturer, has been awarded $147 million dollars in DHS contracts since 2008, according to records from the US Department of Treasury. That includes $43 million from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and another $83 million from US Customs and Border Protection. In just the past 12 months, ICE and CBP have awarded Axon $8 million each.
Asked at her press conference why the city has contracted Axon for its surveillance camera program, given its lucrative deals with ICE and CPB over the past year, instead of some other company, Wilson said:
“I mean, what other company—military industrial complex, right? We got like, not that many companies that provide services like this, so I don’t know that there’s like a … do you want to point us to a squeaky clean company to do this instead?”
Critics have called on the mayor to halt a proposed expansion of the surveillance network and remove cameras due in part to fears ICE and CBP could access the footage and use it to track, detain and deport immigrants. Wilson herself said she opposed CCTV expansion on the campaign trail, but has refused to take Axon’s cameras offline since being elected.
Yesterday, she detailed her new plan. In short, the city is expanding the CCTV network, though not in all the areas proposed for now, and all CCTV cameras currently in place are staying put.
As planned, the cameras are coming to SODO, specifically because of the World Cup due to the “current geopolitical situation” (AKA the United States’ unprovoked invasion of Iran that is spiraling out of control and destroying the global economy). But the deployed cameras will remain off unless the Mayor’s Office determines there’s a threat, in which case they’ll flip the switch.
Additional cameras slated for Capitol Hill (including outside The Stranger’s newsroom) and Garfield High School are on hold pending an audit by New York University’s Policing Project to determine whether federal immigration police can access Seattle’s footage.
The city is also “pausing” the use of all automated license plate reader cameras installed on 400 SPD squad cars because they can’t comply (yet) with a new state law banning their use around schools, courthouses, food banks and places of worship.
CCTV cameras in downtown, the northern section of Aurora Avenue N, and the International District will remain in place.
Axon isn’t a household name, but it used to be under its previous branding: Taser, the eponymous electricity pistol that while advertised as “less-than-lethal” resulted in police officers killing so many people that the company rebranded in 2017 to avoid public recognition and started handing out free body cameras to police departments.
In fact, Axon also provides the body cameras worn by Seattle Police Department officers, with SPD saying the company was selected after “numerous vendors” submitted offers after bidding opened in 2016. SPD’s Real-Time Crime Center also operates on Axon tech. Axon’s Tasers are also standard issue for Seattle cops.
Nine of the 12 members of Axon’s ethics board resigned in 2022 after the company announced plans to develop armed drones for its clients. Of those that didn’t resign, one was former Seattle police chief Cameron Best.
Axon’s CCTV network isn’t the only camera network the city operates. The Seattle Department of Transportation has an extensive camera network accessible to the public covering much of King County.
An Annual Surveillance Technology Usage Review of SDOT’s traffic camera network published in September 2025 says its CCTVs originally operated on software provided by tech contractor FLIR, which is being replaced by software from research and development nonprofit Southwest Research Institute.
The Stranger reached out to SDOT for clarification on contractors involved in the department’s camera network, and a comms staffer there said they’re tracking the information down, but that “the Mayor’s Office has been fielding all questions related to cameras this week.”
A public meeting with the mayor is planned for next Friday at Town Hall Seattle.