Panel Seeks to Put Video Cameras in Squad Cars
City officials took a step Monday toward installing video cameras in new police cruisers to document arrests and traffic stops.
Although camera installation in squad cars was a key recommendation of the Christopher Commission, which proposed more than 120 police reforms after the 1991 Rodney G. King beating, only 32 cruisers have cameras.
On Monday, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee directed the Police Department to solicit proposals for the new equipment.
The LAPD has set aside $1 million to equip new cruisers. The cameras are expected to cost $3,000 to $6,000 each.
Committee Chairwoman Cindy Miscikowski suggested that the department consider retrofitting older cruisers with cameras.
In December 1997, Chief Bernard C. Parks said he planned to make the video camera standard equipment on all new patrol cars. Parks has said installing the cameras would reduce department liability and aid prosecutions.
Police unions and Mayor Richard Riordan have endorsed the idea. Many officers use audiotape recorders during traffic stops.
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