The Waukegan Government Operations and Oversight Committee on July 7 approved a resolution to pay $113,072.76 to equip 10 police vehicles with Axon cameras, license‑plate readers and related software.

Committee members said the purchase covers equipment and software only, not the purchase of new squad cars. The motion passed by roll call vote, with all members present voting in favor.

The purchase was introduced during the committee’s new‑business agenda item. A corrected amount—$113,072.76—was stated on the record before the motion was put. The motion was moved and seconded and later approved in a roll call that recorded Chair Bolton, Alderman Newsom, Alderman Felix and Alderman Turner voting “aye.” The committee chair announced, “Ayes have it.”

Alderman Florin, speaking during the discussion though not a committee member, pressed for a wording clarification: he said the item had been written to suggest vehicle purchases but that the measure was actually to fund Axon cameras for existing vehicles. “When I first read this, I'm like, how are we getting 10 vehicles for a $113,000? … But it's just the cameras. It's not the vehicles,” Florin said. The committee’s police chief confirmed that the appropriation covers equipment and software tied to the vehicles, including LPRs and cameras.

Committee discussion also addressed fleet coverage. A police speaker said that with these 10 cameras installed, all patrol cars would be equipped with LPRs, completing the department’s recent equipment rollout.

Action and next steps: the committee approved the expenditure for equipment and software for 10 vehicles; implementation details such as installation scheduling and which patrol cars receive the equipment were not specified during the meeting.