Junction City council reviews proposed five-year Axon contract to update police cameras and tasers

At its April 22 work session, the Junction City City Council reviewed a proposed five-year contract with Axon that would supply body-worn cameras, replace in-car camera systems and centralize data storage for the police department.

Chief Whitehall told the council the contract has been under negotiation for almost a year and the current draft removes items the department won’t use. He said the agreement would move the department to an Officer Safety Plan (OSP) 7 arrangement and would consolidate two different in-car video systems into a single cloud storage solution to aid prosecutions and complaint investigations. “I think this is the most fiscally responsible contract that I was able to come up with,” Chief Whitehall said.

Why it matters: the contract would change how patrol vehicles and officers record incidents, replace tasers across the department and schedule body-worn camera refreshes. Staff said the purchase is not yet included in the adopted budget, so the council must decide how to fund ongoing installments if it approves a multi-year deal.

Details presented and council questions Staff said the city pared the contract to remove training hardware and software items not in use, including certain VR training equipment tied to taser training. Chief Whitehall said body-worn cameras are set to be refreshed every 2.5 years under the plan and that tasers would be replaced as part of the upgrade.

Council members pressed staff on how the five-year payment schedule would be paid. One councilor suggested adding the contract as a line item in the proposed budget; others warned repeated five-year renewals could strain the department’s cash carryover and urged administrators to develop a longer-term funding plan. City staff said the proposed contract is not in the current budget and that they will explore options including one-time transfers to capital and phased adjustments to avoid a recurring shortfall.

Procurement clarification Chief Whitehall clarified that initial language in the council information sheet incorrectly implied the Oregon State Police negotiated the city’s original contract; staff said Axon contracts are available through state bidding and state contracting vehicles and that line in the AIS was corrected before the meeting.

Next steps Administrators and the police chief will address council concerns and bring the contract back for formal consideration at a main meeting; staff asked for council feedback at the work session to prepare materials for that meeting. There was general agreement at the session to move forward with a formal presentation and seek approval at the council’s next regular meeting.

Ending Councilors emphasized the need to pair procurement decisions with a longer-term budgeting plan so equipment refresh cycles do not create recurring fiscal stress.