LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Civil rights groups are calling for Los Angeles police to install video surveillance cameras in all their stations and eventually in all patrol cars.
Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the LAPD should speed-up installation of video cameras in all 1,200 patrol cars, which would run about $25 million and is currently proposed for a phase-in over the next four years.
"We think it will not only protect the police officers from false accusations but also will protect suspects, and it gives us a more complete picture when things happen," Ripson told the Los Angeles Times Saturday.
The call came after this week's arrest of an LAPD officer for allegedly beating a teenage suspect in a station holding cell.
Police officials said they were taking steps to carry out that task; however, they acknowledged that the surveillance systems have not been installed yet in numerous police stations around the city and that they are just beginning to test out cameras in patrol vehicles.
