Every time…EVERY TIME…I hear some news about Detroit I want to slap my face (the practice is commonly called “facepalming”) and moan at yet another dose of fail that’s hit me about the badly beleaguered city three hours east of me.  Seems they were required, by Federal law, to put dash-mounted cameras inside all their cruisers. And of course, they obeyed and put them in.

It cost them fully eighteen million dollars to do the job. Now, where’s my problem, you might wonder? Here’s my problem. Right here, courtesy of MLive:

* DPD spent more than $18.5 million on the system since 2001

* The system is in such bad shape, officials say they should “tear it out at the roots in order to start from scratch.”

* “Two years ago, the city tried to solve the problem by buying equipment that was already obsolete.”

* “In May, police brass suggested fixing the cameras by using Velcro, briefcases and cigarette lighters to jury-rig incompatible hardware to squad cars, according to reports.”

* In 2001, the city tried to avoid $100 an hour installation fees by having city workers install cameras themselves

* The city paid $15 million to Bob Maxey Ford and Great Lakes Service Center to overhaul the system in 200 cars, but a year later a spot-check of eight cars revealed none could upload or record video.

Yes, you read that right. The dash mounted cameras inside Detroit police cars, purchased at a cost of eighteen MILLION dollars, fail fully eighty three percent of the time. They only work less than one hour for every five they’re on the road.  Jury rig?  Massive overpayment?  COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE???

And people wonder why the average price of a house in Detroit is currently running about seven grand….

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