Mayor updating the council on use of automated license plate readers and a new directive.
During the Everett City Council Meeting today, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin shared her response to Federal Immigration Enforcement in Everett.
Flock license plate reader.
In regards to automated license plate reader cameras, the Mayor mentioned it has been an incredible tool for law enforcement, resulting in over 250 arrests, finding missing persons, and locate stolen vehicles.
Unlike other cities in Washington, Everett has never shared Flock camera information with Federal Ice Agents.
Yesterday the city lost a court case, saying the city must publicly disclose the records when requested. The city is still evaluating the implications of the ruling. The ruling may require the city to produce millions of records, which could take hundreds of hours of staff time.
The city is also worried about protecting the identities of victims of domestic violence, stalking, and other crimes. The mayor has aked the staff to temporarily turn off license plate reader cameras until they learn the result of legislation action in Olympia.
“I want to share that this is really disappointing due to how important this tool has been from solving homicides to locating missing people. I remain very hopeful for a fix in this session in Olympia.” – Mayor Cassie Franklin
The mayor is hopeful Senate Bill 6002 moves ahead, providing guardrails for the usage of such cameras.
The mayor provided a new directive today focusing on Federal Immigration. The previous one was focused on Youth Safety. Below is the new directive and a video of her statement.
Mayoral Directive 2026-01: Response to Federal Immigration Enforcement in Everett
The manner in which the federal government has engaged in immigration enforcement in local communities across the country is deeply concerning. The tragic loss of life in other communities connected to these enforcement efforts has caused and continues to cause real harm to families and communities. Immigration officials have created real fear and uncertainty for people who want to live, work, raise their families in the places they call home.
Everett is a safe and welcoming community. Our focus is, and always will be, to serve everyone in our community and maintain trust with our residents. Our community thrives when those who live in it are treated with dignity and respect and feel safe and stable in their daily lives.
City of Everett employees strive to serve all community members with fairness and maintain trust with our residents. We believe public safety works best when people feel safe asking for help. No one in our community should ever hesitate to call 911 or reach out for assistance out of fear it could put them or their family at risk.
Everett prioritizes maintaining a well-trained staff that focuses on community safety as well as ongoing engagement and collaboration with our Latino and immigrant-serving community leaders and supporters to listen, understand and reaffirm our commitment to serving all who call Everett home.
Leveraging state and regional government and elected officials to mobilize resources and align priorities enhances our effectiveness as does reaffirming Everett’s ongoing commitment to our values, compassion and accountability.
It is within this framework that I issue the following Mayoral Directive.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Cassie Franklin, mayor of Everett, hereby direct City of Everett staff to pursue the following four initiatives:
Initiative 1: City internal policy review, training and preparation
1. The city will establish an Interdepartmental Response Team (IRT) comprised of representatives from the Mayor’s Office, Engagement, Communications, Legal, Public Safety, Governmental Affairs and any others as deemed necessary by the Mayor. This team will collaborate internally to ensure the city maintains current and proper response protocols that best protect the privacy and civil rights of our residents.
2. All city departments will immediately complete a comprehensive review of internal policies and procedures related to immigration enforcement to ensure protection of our community members and compliance with Washington State law.
3. As part of this internal review, and with approval from City Legal and Human Resources, departments may consider adopting protocols specific to their department that recognize the unique ways in which their team members interact with and serve our community.
4. All city departments will conduct regular reviews of these policies due to the rapidly changing environment and conditions related to immigration enforcement at the federal level.
5. The Information Technology Department will coordinate with department directors to assure that any department deploying camera systems for community and staff safety, to include Police, Transit and Municipal Court, are in compliance with the city’s
cybersecurity policy and will conduct internal audits or oversee any third-party reviews
of systems, as deemed necessary by the IT Director.
6. All city staff will undergo training regarding privacy of information and access to city facilities by federal officials for the purpose of immigration enforcement. Staff training will include notification protocols for immigration enforcement activity on or near city
facilities and properties.
Initiative 2: Collaboration with stakeholders and business support
7. Everett’s Engagement team will immediately coordinate regular meetings between Everett’s IRT and our Latino and immigrant community leaders and supporters. Stakeholders may include representatives from established organizations such as school districts, the Latino Education Training Institute (LETI), Connect Casino Road (CCR), and Snohomish County Indivisible.
8. Governmental Affairs will establish a regional intergovernmental network comprised of local city Mayors, county and state elected officials who will seek to leverage local resources and align response plans should immigration enforcement by federal agents
create dangerous and unsafe conditions in our community. These collaborations will seek to leverage political influence to support the safety and security for all our residents.
9. The Mayor’s Office will contact the Offices of the Governor and Attorney General to request guidance around coordination and alignment of response protocols and seek to identify resource allocations in the event of organized ICE operations in Everett.
10. Economic Development staff will collaborate with stakeholders like the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, Economic Alliance of Snohomish County and the Downtown Everett Association to highlight our immigrant-owned businesses and restaurants and
encourage residents to visit these establishments and keep their money local.
11. Encourage advocacy and community-based organizations to collaborate with immigrant groups to establish “know your rights” information that can be shared within our immigrant communities.
12. Facilitate and provide referral assistance to local businesses seeking guidance on implementing workplace protocols that provide protections for customers from our immigrant communities.
Initiative 3: Control and access to city property
13. Effective immediately, absent a warrant, or other non-immigration related mutual aid investigation in which the Everett Police have sought federal agency assistance, no federal agent conducting immigration enforcement shall be allowed to access non-public areas within a city-owned facility.
14. Effective immediately, city employees observing federal agents conducting immigration enforcement or briefing or staging on city owned property shall immediately notify their department director. Department directors shall notify the Mayor’s Office or a member of the IRT as soon as practical.
15. All non-public areas of city facilities will be clearly marked and posted with no access allowed by non-city employees, with the exception noted above.
Initiative 4: Everett’s renewed commitment to Constitutional policing and best practices
16. The Everett Police Department fully complies with the Keep Washington Working Act and does not engage in civil immigration enforcement in any way.
17. If an Everett police officer responds to a call involving a federal immigration official contacting a community member, the Everett Police Officer, as per policy, will be required to activate their body worn camera to record the interaction and will document
their interaction. This information will be routed to the Mayor’s Office, Legal Department and IRT.
18. Everett police officers who observe an egregious excessive force encounter involving federal immigration officers are expected to take action when it is safe to do so.
19. When city staff become aware of resident contacts with ICE at city facilities or on city property, notifications are automatically forwarded to the Mayor’s Office for awareness.
20. All requests for records by federal immigration officials are routed to the Legal Department for review to determine if Everett is legally obligated to release the report or information.
21. The Everett Police Department utilizes various technologies to assist with solving crimes and returning missing and endangered community members to their families. The city understands the privacy concerns surrounding the use of technology and to that end, has taken measures that include requiring user agreements with other agencies, outlining restrictions on how our information can be used and shared and conducting frequent audits of systems to ensure no unauthorized access and that they are being used properly. The city will continue to monitor the use of these systems and databases to protect the privacy, rights and safety of our community.
Staff will provide regular updates to me on progress, challenges and any metrics used to gauge impact
and success.
Dated this 25th day of February 2026
-Cassie Franklin
Mayor, City of Everett
February 25, 2026
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