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March 15, 2007
280 cameras for squad cars in Chicago
From Sun-Times:
280 Chicago Police squad cars will be getting video cameras (there are currently 30 cars with cameras). The project will cost $2.2 million. They eventually hope to put cameras in all the cars, but that will take a while since the department has 1,773 marked cars and 1,354 unmarked vehicles.
Each squad car is equipped with two cameras that can either be activated manually or automatically when emergency lights are turned on. One camera records those in the backseat. The other is mounted on the windshield and faces forward. The officer carries a microphone the size of a beeper that records sounds within 1,000 feet of the vehicle. Real-time audio and video can be transmitted back to the district station.
Already, the cameras have provided evidence in 10 court cases, including video of a Christmas Day hit-and-run that was shown to reporters today and prompted a guilty plea. Squad car cameras are widely viewed as a deterrent against police misconduct, but it’s a two-way street. They also shield honest, professional officers from unwarranted citizen complaints, Daley said.
Posted by rshah at March 15, 2007 10:36 PM
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