SEATTLE -- A federal judge has stopped Seattle City Light from releasing the location of FBI surveillance cameras in the Seattle area.
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones granted the temporary restraining order Monday after Justice Department attorneys sought it.
He ruled that releasing the information would "irreparably" injure the FBI. The release of the information would mean "the confidentiality of the protected information will be destroyed, and the recipients will be free to publish it or post the sensitive information wherever they choose, including on the internet, where it would harm important federal law enforcement operational interests as well as the personal privacy of innocent third parties."
Late last year, City Light released some information on law enforcement cameras on City Light poles and property. But the utility redacted the locations of FBI cameras.
But now City Light says it will have to release that information, too, unless the FBI gets a judge to stop it.
Justice Department attorneys sued in federal court in Seattle on Monday, asking a judge to issue an injunction to stop the release of the cameras' locations.
"Disclosure of even minor details about them may cause jeopardy to important federal interests because, much like a jigsaw puzzle, each detail may aid adversaries in piecing together information about the capabilities, limitations, and circumstances of equipment's use, and would allow law enforcement subjects, or national security adversaries, to accumulate information and draw conclusions about the FBI's use of this technology, in order to evade effective, lawful investigation by the FBI," the attorneys wrote.
According to court papers, the FBI began sharing limited information with City Light in 2013 about the cameras so they wouldn't be removed or destroyed.
Most law enforcement or even private security cameras are intended to prevent crime. But the Justice Department attorneys said the FBI cameras are used for surveillance on certain individuals and are posted outside their homes or businesses. And they are built and concealed "to prevent the target or any passer-by from detecting the surveillance installation," according to court papers.
In September 2015, a reporter for KIRO/7 filed a public disclosure request with City Light for "all records related to the installation of law enforcement surveillance cameras on Seattle City Light poles and property," the Justice Department attorneys wrote.
In November, City Light released the redacted information. But government attorneys said the "FBI's other law enforcement sensitive and confidential information" was released.
In January, the KIRO reporter challenged the withheld information. City Light told the FBI it would release the information unless the government sought a court injunction by Monday.
Because of the records dispute, the FBI has stopped sharing information with City Light, court paper say.
