The Park City Council on July 22 approved a staff recommendation to purchase 18 Panasonic FZ‑55 laptops for the police department to restore reliable in‑vehicle data service after staff said AT&T FirstNet upgraded local cell towers to 5G, degrading 4G performance used by the department's current laptops.

The police chief told council that the department's laptops, purchased about 18 months ago with an expected three‑year lifecycle, struggled with slow speeds and frequent disconnects after the carrier's tower upgrades. City technicians worked with AT&T FirstNet, Panasonic and Sierra Wireless and concluded the existing units are not 5G‑capable. AT&T offered a service credit of $28,000 to the city, which the chief said would be applied against future monthly bills (about $3,678 per month citywide) and will be realized over about eight billing cycles.

An authorized Panasonic vendor, Rugged Depot, quoted $57,325.50 to replace all 18 laptops with Panasonic FZ‑55 5G models as a cooperative purchase. Rugged Depot offered to buy back the current laptops for an estimated $750 each—up to $13,500—contingent on the units' condition and subject to an invoice credit process. Staff recommended funding $40,000 from the special alcohol police fund and $17,325.50 from the general fund; council approved the purchase 7–0.

Councilmember Charlie Davidson moved approval; Councilmember Brandy seconded. The chief noted Rugged Depot must charge the full invoice and then apply any trade‑in credit later; the $28,000 AT&T credit is separate and will appear as reduced monthly bills until the credit is exhausted.

Why it matters: The department said the laptops were intermittently unusable during patrol operations; replacement with 5G‑capable units is intended to restore reliable field access to records and data. The purchase is unbudgeted and the city will apply the vendor trade‑in credit and AT&T service credit to offset costs.

Next steps: Staff will execute the purchase through Rugged Depot and manage the trade‑in process; the chief said the trade‑in amount could be adjusted downward if units show significant damage.