San Francisco County jails have a problem, and it's one that goes beyond the much talked about seismically unsafe Jail No. 4 that's in need of replacement. It appears that since 2014, the surveillance systems in both County Jails No. 1 and 2 have been on the fritz — leaving a compromised security system that has not been entirely repaired despite more than a million dollars worth of work.

So reports SF Weekly, which notes that a January letter from Sheriff Vicki Hennessy states that "many of the basic security functions of the facility are still not complete." And just what, exactly, are these incomplete basic security functions? The Weekly says that "the alarm system, the security cameras, and the electronics that control the doors" all need to be replaced.

The city has contracted two companies to do the work, notes the paper, at what is currently an unknown cost.

Although no one has escaped from either jail since the security systems have started failing, not having video of what goes down inside raises a host of other concerns. For example, this long gap in proper surveillance casts further shadow over incidents like 2015's "apparent suicide" in County Jail No. 2 (the infamous case of jail guards forcing prisoners to fight took place at County Jail No. 4).

Well, at least we now know that the cameras aren't fake.

Related: Public Defender: SF Jail Inmates Are Made To Fight While Sheriff's Deputies Bet On Them