Feds sue Seattle to keep FBI surveillance camera program secret Federal prosecutors claim City Light records would expose investigations

The U.S. Justice Department has sued the city of Seattle in an effort to hide the locations of FBI surveillance cameras set up it in the city. The U.S. Justice Department has sued the city of Seattle in an effort to hide the locations of FBI surveillance cameras set up it in the city. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Feds sue Seattle to keep FBI surveillance camera program secret 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Justice Department has sued the city of Seattle in an effort to hide details of FBI surveillance efforts in the city.

Attorneys for the federal government are seeking a court order preventing the city from releasing Seattle City Light documents related to FBI-operated surveillance cameras installed on power poles. In a lawsuit filed Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office contends the information requested through Washington’s Public Records Act would expose the covert video surveillance effort.

At issue are a series of records requests from KIRO/7’s Graham Johnson and others related to the FBI effort. Court records show Johnson filed a public disclosure request on Aug. 6 seeking “all records related to the installation of law enforcement surveillance cameras on Seattle City Light poles and property.”

Writing in Monday’s legal action, assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Winn claimed the documents are exempt from disclosure because they were provided to the city “in furtherance of the FBI’s criminal and national security missions pursuant to an express agreement that the information would be held in confidence and not used or disclosed for any other purpose without the permission of the FBI.”

Winn went on to describe a long-running effort by the FBI’s technical surveillance section meant to secretly record and track subjects identified by the FBI. Winn contended the FBI is permitted to install video cameras on power poles if doing so is “reasonably likely to achieve investigative objectives.”

Unlike more general surveillance efforts, the FBI usually uses surveillance cameras to pursue a particular person or group of people, Winn said. The cameras are installed close to locations where the subject is known to be.

“Disclosure of the location of an FBI surveillance camera nearly always can reasonably be expected to reveal the location of the subject of the investigation,” the federal prosecutor told the court.

The FBI began sharing information about the cameras with City Light in 2013, according to the legal action. It did so to keep City Light workers from removing or destroying the cameras.

The city released some information about the program in November over objections from the FBI. When additional requests were filed in January, the city agreed to delay release so the Justice Department could seek an injunction, as it did Monday.

Records provided by the federal government as part of the legal action describe the locations of 23 surveillance cameras installed around the city by the Seattle Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. The FBI appears to have been operating nine cameras in Seattle.

The FBI has cut off communication with City Light, and Winn claims FBI personnel and equipment has been put at risk.

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones issued a temporary restraining order preventing the city from disclosing information about the program prior to a full hearing on the matter. An initial hearing date has not yet been set.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.