Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Sheriff achieves for $761 at Costco what she was told would cost $20m

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-04-2016, 03:37 PM:

quote: Fox News (Leo's emphasis)
New security cameras captures inmate brawl at Santa Clara County Jail. (KTVU)

Up to 30 inmates at a Northern California jail threw punches at each other when a huge brawl broke out in front of security cameras installed only 24 hours earlier.

Santa Clara County Jail officials were about to hold a press conference announcing the installation of the cameras on the facility’s fourth-floor maximum-security cell-block when the fight broke out, according to Fox affiliate KTVU.

The San Jose jail was placed on lockdown for several hours as about 20 deputies used pepper spray to subdue the brawling inmates. No one was seriously injured, the station reported. The melee was reported just after 3 p.m. Thursday.

“It looks like one inmate brushed up against another and then the fight was on with fists,” Sheriff Laurie Smith told KTVU. “You can see a lot of fist fighting going on in the video. The inmates are spread throughout the pod.”

The jail installed 12 security cameras on Wednesday that Smith purchased with her own money at a Costco. She expects the $761 purchase to be reimbursed by the county, the station reported.

Smith went to Costco after being told it would cost $20 million and take two years to install security cameras throughout the jail and other lock-ups.

She called for more cameras in the jail after the beating death of an inmate last August. Three correctional deputies charged in the death are currently on trial, the station reported.

The sheriff said investigators will examine the video to see who started the fight, who was assaulted and who was involved.

This totally validates what I felt throughout the six years I spent in my last job before leaving Britain for the US, working in a very large university. Getting pretty much anything done, and especially anything involving technology, cost an order of magnitude more than it would have done in the real world. This even extended to small travel purchases: I vividly remember not being allowed to buy a £60 Ryanair ticket for a business trip and put it on the expense report, and having to get one through the institution's travel office, which booked me a full flex trip on a legacy airline, costing £400.

But $761 to achieve what she was told would take $20 million? That has to be a record. Nevertheless, it seems to illustrate a globally universal rule of thumb, which is that the larger the business or organization is, the less competent it is at managing the cost of doing business.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 03-04-2016, 04:22 PM:

While generally speaking I would agree with you, I really have to wonder if this case is comparing 'apples to apples', that is, what was the $20 million quote for?

Something is just off about it, my suspicion is a breakdown in communication: whomever told her would cost $20 million dollars didn't understand what she was asking for. Even under this scenario your theory is still valid to a point.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 03-04-2016, 04:31 PM:

Having done a fair amount of work with security cameras, I'm pretty sure there is a huge difference in the quality and type of cameras, as well as they way they were installed. Odds are the system she was quoted included much higher tech cameras which included audio and pan/tilt/zoom functions, and probably included many more than 12 cameras. Plus the cameras were probably going to be hard wired to the DVR/recorder and the power source. Even so, I find it very difficult to see how the bid would reach $20 million. Even $100,000 would seem extremely high for the labor and equipment involved.

I can't help wondering if part of the cost is related to performing security clearances. Still, $20 million seems unreasonably high.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 03-04-2016, 06:30 PM:

Bureaucratic silliness notwithstanding..
She also only did, it appears, one room, whereas her $20million was for throughout the jail and other lockups. Sounds like the $20million quote was for the entire incarceration system in the city or county.
Maybe if she produces the papers where the $20million estimate came from we can take her a little more seriously. After all, I can set up a "digital" projection system for under $1,000, why would I need to spend $100,000 on a prograde DCI picture and sound system?

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 03-05-2016, 04:42 PM:

Educators; same as prison officials. If they want to do it, 20 mill is OK; if not, $10 is too much. Have observed this for 40 years. SOMEONE didn't want cameras; hence the multi million quote.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-05-2016, 07:38 PM:

quote: Martin McCaffery
After all, I can set up a "digital" projection system for under $1,000, why would I need to spend $100,000 on a prograde DCI picture and sound system?

You wouldn't install the $100k DCI system to show Powerpoints in an elementary school classroom. Point taken that these were probably very basic, barebones consumer cameras, but if the story is complete and correct, that's all she needed to detect the crime she was anticipating.

Interesting suggestion from Louis - maybe there were reasons why her bosses simply didn't want any cameras in there, and the $20m quote was an attempt to squash the idea. If so, it looks like she called their bluff.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 03-05-2016, 08:00 PM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
Point taken that these were probably very basic, barebones consumer cameras, but if the story is complete and correct, that's all she needed to detect the crime she was anticipating.

Clearly this is better than nothing at all, and should be a lesson for anyone to realize that sometimes a less expensive option will yield acceptable results.