City Audit Slams Oakland Police For Squandering $2M
OAKLAND (CBS/AP) -- An Oakland city auditor is criticizing the Police Department for squandering nearly $2 million on technology systems that were never used or were underutilized.
But Oakland city leaders dispute the claim and said it misspent about $600,000 in technology between 2006 and last year.
The audit released Wednesday said that four of the 12 police technology systems examined weren't used and one was underutilized. Additionally, vendors of three of the failed systems later went out of business, leaving the city with no opportunity for a refund.
Auditor Courtney Ruby's report doesn't include the department's unreliable new radio system, which recently failed during President Barack Obama's visit last week.
The audit also faults police with inadequately investigating the technology before purchase, poor record keeping and tracking of the systems after purchase.
City leaders say they will consider some of the recommendations in the audit.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
