Chief Admits CCTV Works — While Mayor Wilson Keeps Them Off
Seattle’s Assistant Police Chief Nicole Powell just admitted on live television that the city’s CCTV cameras are valuable tools for solving crime. The problem? Mayor Katie Wilson shut them down.
Reporters pressed Powell during an ABC 4 interview about whether reactivating Seattle CCTV cameras would help with unsolved cases. Her answer was immediate: cameras are obviously useful. She cited the Bright of Seattle shooting near Seattle Center, where footage from private businesses and existing city cameras helped identify suspects.
Incredible moment on ABC 4
Seattle Assistant Police Chief Nicole Powell gets asked if turning back on Seattle CCTV cameras would help
She looks nervously at Mayor Katie Wilson (who turned off the CCTV)
Look at the face she gives the camera: pic.twitter.com/hXLvxvzcw3
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 15, 2026
Then came the moment viewers noticed. Powell paused and glanced toward Mayor Wilson, who sat nearby. The gesture was not subtle. It was the look of an official who knows the truth but also knows who signs her paycheck.
“Cameras are obviously a useful tool, right? We’ve seen, I think, in the Bight of Seattle shooting, there’s been camera footage from businesses around Seattle Center.”
That glance told Seattle residents everything they need to know about who is really running the city’s public safety policy—and why crime keeps rising while cameras stay off.
The mayor’s office has defended the CCTV deactivation as a matter of civil liberties, claiming surveillance harms communities of color. But those communities are also the ones suffering the most from violent crime. When cameras are off, detectives lose real-time evidence. Witnesses go quiet. Suspects disappear.
The assistant chief knows this. She said existing cameras at Seattle Center have been useful tools in solving crime. That was not spin. That was a professional telling the public a fact the mayor would rather ignore.
Seattle CCTV cameras are not some futuristic experiment. They are standard law enforcement equipment used in nearly every major American city. They deter crime, clear cases, and hold offenders accountable. But under progressive leadership, Seattle disabled them.
The result? A city where stabbings go unsolved, shootings lack footage, and police are forced to beg private businesses for security video.
The audit on CCTV expansion is due by the end of the month. Officials promise to release findings and decide next steps. But the assistant chief’s face already told the story before any report lands.
She knows cameras work. The mayor knows cameras work. The only question is whether city hall will finally admit it.
Seattle’s residents deserve leaders who prioritize safety over ideology. They deserve the same tools that keep other cities safer. The proof is on the tape—and the chief’s expression is evidence enough.