The Anchorage Assembly is set to take up a resolution at Tuesday’s regular meeting that could reshape how the city uses and manages its rapidly expanding network of traffic cameras.
The proposal by Chair Chris Constant, titled “A Resolution of the Anchorage Assembly Regarding the Implementation and Use of Traffic Cameras and Traffic Camera Recordings Throughout the Municipality,” comes from his concerns over pedestrian safety as well as individual privacy.
Anchorage recorded a grim milestone in 2024 — 15 pedestrians were struck and killed on city streets, the highest number on record. The pace has continued into 2025. In response to rising fatalities, the municipality has expanded its traffic camera program, installing cameras at 283 traffic signals since 2017 and on track to have them at every intersection by the end of summer, according to the Municipal Traffic Department. That does not include the state cameras installed on state-maintained road.
While city officials have promoted the program as a public safety tool, the resolution notes that the “ubiquitous employment of cameras” raises “serious concern for the privacy rights of the people of Anchorage and the visitors to our hometown.” It cites both the US Constitution and the Alaska Constitution’s unusually strong privacy protections, as well as past allegations of municipal misuse of surveillance footage, including within City Hall.
Currently, the city has no published policy governing how traffic camera footage is stored, accessed, or released. The resolution calls for the mayor’s administration to develop, adopt, and publicly release such a policy by Oct. 15, coinciding with the completion of the citywide installation of the remaining traffic cameras.
The proposal outlines two core principles for the new rules:
- Transparency and public accountability for municipal actions.
- Protection of individual privacy rights, including for crime suspects.
Among the specific features Constant wants included are:
- Explicit limits on which municipal employees may access cameras and review footage.
- Clear procedures for storage, release, and eventual destruction of recordings.
- Safeguards to prevent misuse of footage for political or personal purposes.
If approved, the resolution would take effect immediately. The meeting begins at 5 pm in the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library, 3600 Denali St.