Perrysburg police recommend five-year Axon contract for body, in-car and interview-room cameras

The Perrysburg Police Department told the Board & Committees it is recommending a five‑year contract with Axon to replace its current body, in‑car and interview‑room camera system and provide cloud storage and related services.

Police Chief (title given in meeting transcript) told the committee the department moved to its current vendor five years ago and that the existing on‑premise server contract is ending. "All that would be stored in one location on the cloud so we can easily tie, you know, videos together to go with one case," the chief said, adding cloud storage also makes sharing video with courts easier and provides more robust redaction tools for public records requests.

The proposed contract would cover body‑worn cameras for every sworn officer, in‑car cameras for all patrol vehicles and the station interview‑room cameras, and includes unlimited cloud storage and warranty coverage during the five‑year term. The department said Axon would refresh body cameras halfway through the term to replace devices that are damaged or worn. The committee was told the five‑year contract would total $550,224.84, with an initial payment of approximately $112,011 due once deliverables are received.

Chief comments noted security and access tradeoffs because the system is cloud‑based: "Obviously, there's concerns with that, with network security and things like that," he said, while also emphasizing operational benefits for evidence management and court sharing.

The police asked that the committee forward the agreement to city council "as an emergency measure so we can keep the process moving," noting the current system will expire later this year. No formal council action on the contract was recorded during the meeting.

Committee members asked about device counts and the department said the quoted package includes roughly 40 body cameras (one per sworn officer plus four spares) and interview‑room coverage for four rooms. The department also intends to add a body camera for the fire marshal to support fire investigations.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the contract during the meeting; the department requested council consideration on an accelerated schedule so the new system can be in place before the expiration of the current service.

Next steps: the department will submit the proposed contract to city council for review; the committee did not record a motion or vote on that submission during this meeting.