Caldwell council approves $1.8 million Axon package including drones, body cameras and tasers

The Caldwell City Council on Wednesday approved a multi‑year purchase of body‑worn cameras, tasers and drone first‑responder (DFR) technology from Axon in a contract totaling roughly $1.8 million over five years.

Council members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution authorizing the contract; the motion passed without recorded roll‑call of individual yea/nay votes.

City and police officials told the council the package pairs Axon body cameras and evidence management with a docked drone system that can be launched to respond automatically to dispatch calls. Captain Rosen of the Caldwell Police Department said the drones are designed to fly beyond visual line of sight with FAA approval and to provide “situational awareness” to responding teams so officers can better evaluate risk before arriving. “It’s primarily a de‑escalation tool,” Rosen said.

The department described three dock locations that would allow a drone to reach most city locations within about 90 seconds and said the drones will be integrated into a planned real‑time crime center that will also monitor body‑worn camera feeds. Rosen said the goal is to reduce unnecessary officer responses to some calls: a cited IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) study found that 24% of drone first responder deployments required no officer response.

Finance staff explained how the purchase will be funded. Raelynn (finance) told council that the first and second years of the contract will be paid from remaining ARPA funds and the remainder from the city’s capital fund; staff said the contract represents a multiyear commitment of roughly $330,000 per year over five years. The police captain said the deployment will be phased: a limited rollout and testing period with controlled staffing, followed by broader implementation and ongoing policy development (Lexipol policies will be used as a starting point), training and performance review.

Council members asked about staffing, privacy and vehicle pursuit policy. Rosen said current drone pilots are trained but serve in ancillary duties and that the department expects to staff the real‑time crime center gradually; there is no current plan to reduce sworn positions because of the technology. On privacy and Fourth Amendment concerns, Rosen said the department will not use drones to look inside private homes except in exceptional circumstances supported under law; he added that in flight recordings are often blurry until the drone slows over the scene, and that a public transparency portal will log each automated flight and make route and duration available unless the footage is part of an active, case‑sensitive investigation.

Council discussion also touched on training costs, emergency uses (fire response was mentioned as a future pilot), and system fail‑safes such as automatic battery and swap‑over procedures described by vendors. Staff said Axon provides training as part of the package, but ongoing city training funds will be needed because drone operation is a perishable skill.

The council’s resolution authorizes acceptance of the vendor quote and execution of a multi‑year agreement for the Axon package; council members said they support the purchase as an investment in officer and public safety.

Votes at a glance: Council approved the resolution unanimously. Funding was described as a mix of remaining ARPA funds (first two years) and capital fund allocations for the remaining years; the contract is structured over five years.

City staff said a pilot rollout and additional policy work will precede full implementation.