Leavenworth police present Axon agreement for cameras, citing lost video with previous vendor
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Summary
Police recommended a master services agreement with Axon after citing repeated data loss with the current vendor; the commission approved a first-year allocation and an attorney-reviewed addendum was attached to the contract.
The Leavenworth Police Department told the City Commission on Oct. 14 that it needs a new camera system after repeated incidents of unrecoverable video with its current provider. The commission approved a master services and purchasing agreement with Axon Enterprise Inc., including a 2026 allocation, and directed staff to finalize contract exhibits and the city attorney’s addendum.
Chief Kitchens told commissioners the current provider (Coban) has failed to reliably preserve video data in multiple significant incidents and staff have ‘‘lost confidence’’ in that system’s ability to provide evidence when required. After evaluating five vendors and reassessing the current system, police staff recommended Axon, citing peer agency experience and product reliability.
Nut graf: The purchase bundles in-car cameras, body-worn cameras, interview-room cameras, cloud storage, licensing and third-party video support. Staff presented a five-year total and a first-year cost; the commission approved the agreement and an allocation for 2026 while the contract retains a non-appropriation/opt-out provision that allows future councils to discontinue funding if necessary.
What staff presented and why: Chief Kitchens said the department assembled an evaluation committee including patrol, detectives, evidence personnel and IT staff to review products from Axon, Getac, Motorola/WatchGuard and Coban. The committee reported reliability issues with Coban and judged Axon the most reliable product tested; staff also cited nearby agencies using Axon (Lansing, Tonganoxie, Bonner, KCK, Shawnee, Lenexa, Overland Park) as local references.
Features described by staff: - Integrated system for body, in-car and interview-room cameras with unified storage and evidence workflows; - ‘‘Community Request’’ portal for members of the public or private cameras to upload footage to a case link; - Live-stream ability for commanders to view ongoing operations; - Optional future features (extra cost) such as translation services, AI-assisted draft-report generation and drone integration; the department requested only the base package now.
Costs and contract mechanics: The presentation cited a five-year quoted total of $805,556.15 and a first-year 2026 allocation of $177,222.35; the department asked the commission to approve the master services and purchasing agreement with an attorney-prepared addendum to add city-specific exhibit attachments and statutory (non-appropriation) language. The city attorney confirmed statutory language needed for the contract and said staff struck a reference to an online master agreement, replacing it with the exhibit attached to the packet.
Commission action: The commission voted to approve the master services and purchasing agreement with Axon, including the $177,222.35 allocation for 2026. City staff will finalize exhibits and execute the agreement.
What it does not do: Approval authorizes the agreement as presented but does not commit future commissions to funding beyond appropriations. Staff said the agreement contains provisions allowing the city to opt out should future funding become unavailable.
Ending: Staff scheduled follow-up steps to finalize contract exhibits and to coordinate implementation details with finance and IT.
