Report: Little to show for Detroit camera system

Little to show for Detroit's $18.5 million police car video camera system, newspaper says

Staff
AP News

Oct 13, 2009 09:07 EDT

A newspaper says Detroit police have little to show for at least $18.5 million spent since 2001 to equip patrol cars with video cameras.

The cameras are supposed to record traffic stops and arrests. Officials say cameras help build criminal cases while fending off unwarranted lawsuits.

A 2003 agreement ordered in-car cameras to help settle U.S. Justice Department lawsuits over police brutality and other civil rights violations.

The Detroit News reported Tuesday that internal documents show the in-car cameras work less than 17 percent of the time. The newspaper says records show several questionable purchase decisions leading to the failure.

Police Chief Warren Evans says he'll announce plans Tuesday for a big fix to the "long-troubled" system.

Source: AP News

 

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