The onboard video surveillance equipment on more than half of Muni's buses and trains was not fully operational when an emergency audit was ordered by the San Francisco transit agency after the stabbing of an 11-year-old boy on a city bus last month.

The Chronicle obtained the results of the audit Monday through a public records request. The inspection's findings highlight for the first time the extent of the problem Muni has had in keeping a key component of its safety and security system in good working condition.

The entire fleet, with the exception of the cable cars and historic streetcars, is outfitted with cameras. Of the approximately 960 vehicles equipped with surveillance devices, 22 percent were deemed completely nonfunctional and an additional 30 percent only partially functional, the inspection found. The remaining 48 percent worked.

The audit found a range of problems: blurry images, vandalized cameras, poor sound, broken data packs, bad cables and inoperable recorders, among others.

Since the audit was completed in late September, Muni has scrambled to fix the malfunctioning components - and has made progress, said Muni spokesman Judson True.

The percentage of vehicles with equipment that is either fully or partially inoperable is down to 20 percent. But that still means a Muni rider has a 1-in-5 chance of boarding a bus or train without a properly working surveillance system.

Odds are 'anything goes'

"That's not very comforting," Sandy Campbell, a yoga instructor and Muni regular, said as she waited for a Van Ness Avenue bus outside City Hall on Monday. "I know the cameras can't always stop a fight or someone from grabbing a cell phone, but they might at least help the police catch who did it."

Supervisor Bevan Dufty, a mayoral aspirant who has focused on San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency safety issues, said cameras also can be a good crime deterrent - if they're working. "Now the odds are that anything goes," he said.

Board of Supervisors President David Chiu called the initial finding that only half the surveillance systems were fully operational horrific. "It's not something that taxpayers, riders and operators should have to expect on the buses," he said.

Muni chief Nathaniel Ford agreed. "These video systems simply must be fixed, and they must stay fixed," he said.

High-profile incidents

Muni has been under fire since 11-year-old Hatim Mansori was stabbed during what police described as an unprovoked attack aboard a 49-Van Ness/Mission bus on Sept. 1. Not all the onboard cameras were working. The boy's screams can be heard, but the attack can't be seen clearly. The assailant has not been captured.

The video equipment also wasn't working on a Muni Metro train that slammed into another train at West Portal Station in July, leaving 48 people injured and investigators searching for clues to what happened. Authorities had better luck breaking the case of the Oct. 5 beating of an 18-year-old actor on a 9-San Bruno bus. An onboard camera helped police identify and arrest three suspects.

Lagging inspections

Before last month's audit, Muni did not routinely inspect the onboard surveillance equipment. While they have plans to do so in the future, no concrete policy has been developed.

With six different surveillance systems, and some of the equipment as old as 9 years - virtually ancient in the world of technology - Muni has had trouble securing all the needed parts to make the repairs.

The agency declared an emergency on Sept. 25 to allow normal procurement and contracting procedures to be bypassed, with the goal of 100 percent working systems by Nov. 30, said James Dougherty, Muni's chief safety officer. Completing the work "is a top priority."

BART has included its surveillance system in its regular maintenance program for several years and has seen the failure rate drop from 60 percent to 10 percent, according to spokesman Linton Johnson.

The estimated cost to make all the repairs on Muni is $1.2 million, with a source for only a third of the funding identified so far, True said.