Controller Criticizes LAPD for Lack of Surveillance
LOS ANGELES — The Police Department has failed to install video cameras in its evidence rooms despite the recommendations of a 1998 audit, the city controller’s office found.
In a letter to Police Chief Bernard Parks and members of the Police Commission, Controller Rick Tuttle said that if the department had followed his advice two years ago, it could have deterred former Officer Rafael Perez from stealing drugs from an evidence locker.
“Video cameras, properly used in strategic locations, could serve an important function in helping the Police Department preserve its own internal controls,” Tuttle wrote. “The Rafael Perez case illustrates an obvious use.”
Tuttle said his 1998 audit urged the LAPD to install cameras in key areas where high-value property or drugs are stored.
“Overall, the use of video cameras has not increased at all since our audit recommendations were made more than two years ago,” he wrote.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
