Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, a self-described socialist Democrat already known for awkward moments during interviews and public appearances, is facing fresh criticism after another uncomfortable on-camera exchange.
The latest incident came during a discussion of Seattle’s gun-violence reduction strategy, alongside Seattle Police Assistant Chief Nicole Powell and Amy Barden, head of the city’s Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department.
Wilson intervened after a lengthy pause while Powell was responding to a reporter’s question about whether new Flock-style surveillance cameras could help investigators solve crimes.
KOMO News reporter Chris Daniels had asked Powell whether the cameras could assist with Seattle’s backlog of unsolved cases.
Powell hesitated, looked down and began speaking twice before Wilson stepped in.
“Cameras are obviously a useful tool, right? We’ve seen in the ‘Bite of Seattle’ shooting there’s been camera footage from businesses around Seattle Center. We have cameras at Seattle Center. Those cameras have been useful tools in solving crime, there’s no doubt about that,” Wilson said.
Powell appeared uncomfortable after the interruption. She chuckled, gestured toward the mayor and repeatedly glanced off camera.
Daniels continued pressing the officials, asking, “What’s going to be the metric of success?”
Powell looked toward Wilson, who answered with a slightly cracking voice: “Ultimately, we want to see zero homicides, we want to see fewer homicides, and we want to see fewer guns shot.” As Wilson spoke, Powell nodded and again looked off to the side.
The reporter followed up: “Would either of you like to answer that question?” He gestured toward Powell and Barden.
Barden quickly stepped in and redirected the discussion away from the surveillance cameras.
“From my side, in addition to shots fired and homicides, you want to look at referrals in the services and whether or not somebody is making meaningful improvement in their life,” Barden said.
After Barden finished, Daniels gave Powell another opportunity to respond. She laughed before saying, “Just to piggyback, taking a holistic approach, this strategy works.”
“It is proven in other cities like this, and it takes all of us,” Powell added while looking back at Wilson and Barden.
The exchange comes as Seattle and cities nationwide continue debating whether to expand the use of surveillance cameras.
During last year’s mayoral campaign, Wilson opposed expanding Seattle’s camera network. Since taking office, however, her position has become more nuanced.
In September, Wilson said, “turning on more cameras won’t magically make our neighborhoods safer.”
“But it will certainly make our neighbors more vulnerable,” The Urbanist reported her saying.
After becoming mayor, Wilson announced a pause on expanding Seattle’s surveillance-camera system while the city conducts a privacy and data-governance audit. Existing cameras, however, will remain operational.
She said the city would use the audit’s findings to determine whether and how to proceed with further expansion.
During the KOMO News interview this week, Wilson was pressed on when she would set a date for a decision.
She answered, “I’m going to sound like a broken record on this, but we’ve been conducting this audit of our data security and storage and privacy practices, we’re expecting the results of that audit around the end of this month and so, at the end of this month, we’ll be making that information public, and then I’ll be making a decision about that expansion.”
The awkward on-camera moment was quickly called out by many online.
Popular conservative account “End Wokeness” called it an “incredible moment.”
“Seattle Assistant Police Chief Nicole Powell gets asked if turning back on Seattle CCTV cameras would help[,] she looks nervously at Mayor KatieWilson (who turned off the CCTV) Look at the face she gives the camera,” the account wrote.
Some voiced their frustration, such as political advocacy group Future 42, which posted, “Daniels asks the SPD Chief sitting beside the mayor if the crime cameras ‘could be a tool to help in any of these unsolved cases.’ The Chief’s facial expression and silence say it all, which is then followed by Katie Wilson interjecting that cameras are in fact a ‘useful tool’, even though she personally made the decision to turn them off,” the group wrote, adding, “What else can we say, except Katie Wilson still has no idea what she is doing as Mayor of Seattle?”
