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City Addressing Cruiser Camera Video Problem

Columbus city officials say 30 police cruisers equipped with  dashboard cameras may not have been recording for nearly a week in August because the police division's storage server reached capacity. The server saves video for two years, but it reached capacity on August 28th. The city has not said how many incidents went unrecorded. The police union has said the division notified the Department of Technology years ago that server storage was an issue, but nothing was done. Now the Department of Public Safety is purchasing a back-up server for 340 thousand dollars. Deputy Columbus Safety Director George Speaks told City Council on Monday all cruiser cameras are now fully functional and there are no more storage issues.

"We had an issue uploading about 30 of our police cruisers with video.  That's 30 out of a fleet of approximately 320.  Those issues have been resolved, an initial server has been implemented and the videos are properly uploading.  The purpose  of the ordinance before you tonight is to align ourselves with best practices, specifically having a back-up or secondary server."

 
Cruiser cameras were part of the city's settlement of a Justice Department lawsuit filed in the late 1990s alleging police engaged in a pattern or practice of abusing citizen civil rights. Many officers say the video provides evidence of their actions during a shooting or other critical incident.