The Seattle Times
SEATTLE — Police across the nation are using footage from red light cameras to help them solve crimes.
But not in Washington state. State law prohibits police from using images from the cameras for anything other than traffic enforcement.
The King County prosecutor wants the Legislature to reconsider that law. He wonders if the cameras could provide vital clues in some unsolved killings.
The Seattle Times reported Washington is among the few states that bar police from using images from red-light cameras in criminal investigations. The way the 2005 law is tailored, even if a homicide, abduction or any other serious crime occurs within full view of the cameras, the images cannot be used by police.
The tight restriction was written into the law to ease concerns about violating privacy rights.
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