Cameras Installed At Bay Area Jail After Inmate's Beating Death

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A San Francisco Bay Area jail where guards have been accused of fatally beating an inmate now has security cameras.

KNTV-TV reports that Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith on Wednesday helped crews install new cameras at the main jail. The cameras come after the August beating death of Michael Tyree, which was not caught on surveillance video.

When Smith asked county officials for a new surveillance system shortly after Tyree's death, she was told it would take two years and cost $20 million. Instead, she consulted with IT workers and paid $761 of her own money to purchase a 12-camera system from Costco to help reduce blind spots in the jail.

Smith says the new cameras will allow staff to see what is happening inside inmate modules for the first time.