Morris County prosecutor proposes five-year Axon Justice contract to centralize digital evidence

Morris County Prosecutor Bob Carroll told the Board of County Commissioners on March 12, 2025, in Morristown that his office is seeking county approval to adopt the Axon Justice digital evidence management system under a five‑year agreement at about $200,000 per year to centralize body‑worn camera and other digital evidence.

Carroll said the system would affect the “entire criminal justice system,” from 911 dispatch through investigation, charging, discovery, pretrial and trial work. “What we wanna do is present to you in a concise fashion the need for the Axon Justice digital program, which will have a highly beneficial impact on our county law enforcement operational activities,” he said.

The prosecutor’s office and its lead technical presenter, Ernie G. Pietro, chief of staff (retired state police major), described features intended to speed evidence review and reduce manual transcription and storage costs. Pietro said the purchase was driven by “body worn camera mandates on the AG’s policies and discovery obligations,” and that the system’s AI transcription, search tools and multi‑camera review would save staff time.

Officials described core features: AI‑generated transcripts to reduce manual transcription time; cloud‑based storage included in the price rather than local physical media; multi‑camera synchronized review; keyword search through AI transcripts; automated ingest and format conversion; an audit trail showing when files are accessed; and tools for sharing discovery via secure links rather than email or physical media. The presenters said Axon can ingest footage from other vendors and consumer devices (for example, Ring doorbells) and integrate it into a single, auditable case file.

On cost and procurement, Carroll and Pietro said the proposal is framed as a five‑year contract to stabilize future costs and avoid annual increases. During questions, a presenter said the annual cost is “a little over 200,000 a year. Yeah. 5 years,” and confirmed the county had included funding in the 2025 operating budget. A presenter also said the arrangement is on a state contract, and that the county would “own the data” and be able to transfer it to another vendor if it switches systems at contract end.

Presenters emphasized legal and evidentiary benefits: an internal redaction workflow (no third‑party redaction), metadata and audit trails to reduce disputes over whether evidence was delivered or opened, and retention aligned to case status. Carroll said the system reduces the time needed to compile and review digital evidence and noted that increased availability of persuasive digital evidence has raised plea rates and reduced trials.

The prosecutor’s team acknowledged limits and ongoing needs: AI transcripts still require human review; different municipal systems will require conversion or ingestion; and there are policy and technical questions about facial recognition and automated analytics. Carroll and Pietro said Axon can perform analytical tasks (for example, flagging occurrences of the word “Miranda” in transcripts), but that human oversight and gradual implementation are essential. Carroll said, “we have to take it slow, but we still need it.”

No formal vote or contract award occurred at the meeting. Commissioners and staff asked technical and procurement questions during the presentation; presenters said final terms were the result of months of negotiation. The board did not take a formal procurement action at the session; next steps discussed included further budget committee review and any required procurement steps under the state contract.

Ending: The presentation concluded with commissioners reserving procurement decisions for later budget and procurement review. Prosecutor Carroll and his leadership team left materials with the board and answered follow‑up questions but no purchase authorization was approved during the March 12 meeting.