Council approves five‑year Axon contract to replace body and in‑car cameras, TASERs and evidence systems

Lede: Antioch city council voted 4–0 on Aug. 26 to approve a five‑year contract with Axon Enterprise to replace expiring body‑worn and in‑car camera equipment, upgrade the department’s evidence management platform, and replace dated conducted energy devices (TASERs). Nut graf: Police leadership said the current hardware has exceeded its useful life and newer equipment integrates cameras, TASER data and cloud evidence management to improve case documentation, supervisor audits and community access to footage. Staff said the new bundled contract is costed within the current budget and will be more cost‑effective than extending existing contracts. Body: Chief E. Hill told council the department began deploying body‑worn cameras in 2021 and vehicle cameras in subsequent years but that the equipment is now near or beyond expected lifespan; TASER X26 devices in use since about 2008 are obsolete and no longer supported by modern evidence systems. Hill said the new agreement would provide updated body cameras, in‑car systems with rear‑seat and backup cameras, interview‑room camera upgrades, TASER replacement units that can communicate with cameras and the evidence platform, and evidence.com cloud storage and tools. Chief Hill described features council members asked about in public discussion: auto‑activation of nearby cameras when a device is powered or deployed, ‘‘auto tagging’’ that links video recordings to incident records, a public upload portal so residents can submit videos or photos directly into the evidence system, and a redaction assistant to support record releases. He also said Axon’s FUSIS (real‑time integrations) can consolidate city and third‑party cameras into a unified view for operations; supervisors will receive an audit dashboard to review compliance with recording and evidence procedures. Chief Hill said some upgrades — notably five interview rooms — are significant cost drivers but necessary to maintain court‑admissible recordings. Council members asked about privacy, activation triggers and budget. Hill said the new devices will add safeguards and supervisory audit tools and that the five‑year contract is already accounted for in the department’s FY25 budget; the department projects a $66,000 annual savings in the final year by consolidating services into a single agreement versus extending existing contracts. Action: Council approved the five‑year Axon contract, 4–0 (Council member Wilson absent). Hill said the department will phase in new cameras and evidence tools and coordinate policy updates and training. Ending: The department will return to council or the oversight monitor as needed for policy refinements and community outreach to explain new features and public upload procedures. Staff said the contract will not require an additional general fund appropriation beyond current budget allocations.