WASHINGTON (7News) — Washington is one of the most monitored city’s in the world, but a 7News investigation is uncovering police crime cameras broken when detectives need them most.
Metropolitan Police Department equipment records show 445 D.C. surveillance camera malfunctions since 2019. Police records show cameras unable to pan, tilt, zoom, produce any image or export video. Most malfunctions are fixed in days, while some camera outages last weeks. MPD says it has 318 cameras deployed in the city.
The 7News I-Team cross referenced crime reports and camera malfunctions. The findings show cameras taxpayers spent $4.3 million dollars to install sometimes miss crimes they’re supposed to help solve…
Eric L. Piza, Ph.D. 