Nearly two decades have passed since the Los Angeles Police Department was first called upon to outfit all its patrol cars with video cameras. Today, the number of vehicles with functioning cameras stands at zero.
Over the years, while other law enforcement agencies around the country put cameras into wide use, various LAPD chiefs and mayors failed to acquire the technology, as pilot programs fizzled amid budget constraints and tepid political support.
Despite having secured funding for hundreds of cameras, LAPD officials acknowledged this week that the project continues to founder because of technical malfunctions and poor planning.
In a city where relations between police and minority communities have historically been marred by mistrust and frequent claims of abuse, the cameras -- mounted on windshields to record officers' encounters with suspects -- are seen as a powerful deterrent to police misconduct and a tool for defending cops against false accusations.
"We've been dealing with this issue for too long," said John Mack, president of the city Police Commission, which oversees the LAPD. "We've got to start seeing some results."
The latest go-round began in April 2008, when the City Council earmarked $5 million -- enough money to outfit about a quarter of the LAPD's 1,200 patrol vehicles -- and awarded IBM the project contract. Then-Chief William J. Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hailed the decision, unveiling the complex digital system before a bank of television cameras.
Enthusiasm turned quickly to frustration, however, as technical glitches and inadequate testing stalled the project. Earlier problems with downloading video footage remotely from vehicles have been followed by current breakdowns in the connection between the cameras and laptop computers that officers use in patrol cars, Maggie Goodrich, commanding officer of the LAPD's Information and Technology Bureau, told the commission on Tuesday. She recently took control of the project after Chief Charlie Beck removed the previous director.
Goodrich blamed the problems on a failure to rigorously test the camera system on its own before trying to integrate it with the computers, saying technicians must now spend several weeks retesting the equipment to identify and remedy the problems. She added that poor communication among LAPD officers testing the equipment, technicians from IBM and a digital video company that is also involved had hampered repair efforts further.
"I have a lot of concern about the time this has taken," Goodrich said. "But I do not think hope is lost." She declined to estimate when installation of cameras, beyond the few being used in testing, might begin.
Word of the continued problems frustrated members of the commission. In previous briefings, department officials repeatedly downplayed delays and assured the commission that the project was progressing.
"We've been getting a lot of good happy-talk from people about getting this off the ground," Mack told Goodrich.
Commissioner Alan Skobin voiced concerns that the department had pursued an overly complicated system. "My fear is that we are not cutting edge on this but bleeding edge," he said.
The push for cameras in LAPD vehicles dates to the 1991 beating of Rodney G. King. In the wake of the beating, the Christopher Commission called for cameras as part of the sweeping set of reforms it recommended. Over the years that followed, the department's commitment waxed and waned. One chief's plan to install 22 cameras as an experiment was scaled back by his successor. The cameras were pulled out of the cars after their manufacturer went out of business and technical problems grew too daunting.
Bratton, who became chief in 2002, pushed hard for cameras. Looking to rebuild long-strained relations between the LAPD and minority communities, he viewed the devices as a technological cornerstone of increased transparency and accountability.
In an interview this week, Bratton said he regretted not having footage in several controversial cases in which officers' actions were disputed. He pointed specifically to the shooting of Devin Brown, a 13-year-old car-theft suspect. An officer said he shot Brown in self-defense to avoid being struck by the vehicle as the youngster drove in reverse.
The idea of cameras in cars took on additional weight in light of a federal consent decree that the department entered into after the Rampart corruption scandal. The monitor assigned to oversee reform efforts urged the department to use video cameras to help address persistent allegations that officers unfairly targeted blacks and Latinos.
At Tuesday's commission meeting, Mack sternly reminded department officials that the federal judge who freed the LAPD from the decree last year had voiced support for the cameras and indicated he wanted to see the department follow through on its commitment to install them.
