Snohomish County Sheriff | Body-worn cameras
"The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) uses body cameras" — the program in the agency's own published policy, with the vendor question left open by a county Axon agreement whose scope the council record never states.
At a glance
- The program
- Policy 706, in the published Law Enforcement Policy Manual (August 2026 update): "The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) uses body cameras to contemporaneously and objectively document citizen contacts" [1]
- The vendor
- the policy names none. The council record holds a Master Services and Purchasing Agreement with Axon Enterprise, amended August 2024 (Motion 24-321) and May 2025 (Motion 25-214) without stating its scope, and the 2024 technology-budget deliberations discuss body camera management; the pairing stays a lead, asked in the records request [2]
- State law
- RCW 10.109 requires deploying agencies to adopt policies; RCW 42.56.240(14) sets a 60-day retention floor and governs disclosure [3]
How it happened
- Decision
Axon agreement, Amendment 2
Motion 24-321 approves Amendment 2 to the county's Master Services and Purchasing Agreement with Axon Enterprise. The motion does not state what the agreement covers. [2]
- Decision
Axon agreement, Amendment 3
Motion 25-214 approves Amendment 3; scope again unstated in the motion. [2]
- Context
The current policy edition
Policy 706 in the manual's August 2026 update governs the program: recording of citizen contacts, administrative review, and evidentiary use. [1]
A program stated plainly, a vendor left unstated
The Sheriff’s Office publishes its full policy manual, and Policy 706 opens with the program as a fact: the office uses body cameras to document citizen contacts, with footage available as evidence, for administrative compliance review, and for training. What the published paper never states is who supplies the cameras. The council record holds a Master Services and Purchasing Agreement with Axon Enterprise, amended twice across 2024 and 2025, and the county’s 2024 technology budget discussions mention body camera management, but no motion states the agreement’s scope. This site does not close that gap by inference; the records request asks for the agreement.
What state law adds
RCW 10.109 is why the policy exists: Washington requires any agency deploying body cameras to adopt one. RCW 42.56.240(14) governs the recordings, with a 60-day retention floor, privacy presumptions for footage from homes and medical settings, and request requirements that make a named person, case number, or officer the price of disclosure.
What we do not know
- The vendor and the contract: whether the county's Axon Master Services and Purchasing Agreement covers this program, its cost, and its term.
- The retention schedule applied beyond the statutory 60-day floor, and who may review footage.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Snohomish County.
What we have documented in Snohomish County →Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1.
- 2. Snohomish County Council, General Legislative Session minutes, 28 August 2024 (Motion 24-321) and 14 May 2025 (Motion 25-214) · Primary document · · accessed
- 3.
Get the digest
A regular digest of what changed in the world of surveillance: the counties we published, the devices that appeared on the map, and the public meetings where these decisions get made. We send it when there is enough to report.
One click to unsubscribe. What we do with your address is on the newsletter page.