Lacey joins other cities in charging for police body cam edits 

The City of Lacey will begin charging for police video redactions, imposing a 90-cent rate per minute rate that aligns it with other cities in the state of Washington.

Resolution 1172, adopted unanimously by the Lacey City Council at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 16, took effect immediately. It authorizes the Lacey Police Department to charge for requests not exempted under state law for actual staff time incurred in redacting body cam video footage. 

City reports revealed the rate stems from the step-one salary and benefits of a Police Records Specialist, listed at $9,380.37 per month, with an Evidence.com license of $31.74 per month plus an annual Redaction Assistant User License cost of $6.58. 

Spread across an estimated 10,440 minutes of work time, the figure yields the 90-cent rate. 

City staff noted redactions typically require two minutes of processing for each minute of recorded footage. 

Exemptions, statutory authority 

Resolution 1172 stems from Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 42.56.240(14), which allows law enforcement agencies to charge reasonable costs of obscuring or pixelating footage, except for exempt groups.  

Exempt requesters include individuals recorded in the footage, their attorneys, criminal defendants, lawyers bringing constitutional or civil rights actions, and the executive directors of state commissions on African-American, Asian Pacific American, and Hispanic affairs. 

Mayor Andy Ryder said the city’s intent was to manage workload rather than generate revenue.  

“Obviously, we’re not talking about huge fiscal note. In this case, you know, we’re only talking about maybe, you know, $1,500 in fees annually," Ryder said.

"But I think what we’re really trying to do here is make sure that we’re being fair to our community, and that we don’t see these circumstances where people are requesting body worn cameras footage, you know, for maybe their own personal gain."  

Benchmarks 

Seattle was cited as the baseline. A 2017 stopwatch study in Seattle established a 60-cent rate, later adjusted to 80 cents in 2024. 

The City of Olympia adopted the same 80-cent rate, Tukwila enacted 63 cents and Kent set its rate at 91 cents per minute. 

Council member Robin Vazquez said the fee reflects the balance between transparency and staff resources. 

“All of us are very proud to live in a state where we have such transparent laws related to public records, and we want to make sure that the public knows what’s happening,” Vazquez said.

She added that recognition of the redaction work itself was necessary. 

The Lacey Police Department will track redaction times under its internal Body Worn Video Redaction Time Tracking system. 

Requesters projected to incur charges over $54 must submit a 10% deposit before staff begins redactions.