Council approves extension of police body‑camera contract; residents asked for public discussion on storage and oversight

The Albany City Council voted on Dec. 2 to approve an amendment extending the city’s existing body‑camera and cloud storage contract for police footage, continuing service with the current vendor used since 2019.

Why it matters: Residents raised concerns at the meeting about waiving a competitive bidding process, how and who reviews recorded footage, cloud storage backups and access during outages, and whether the department uses software to analyze video. The council approved the consent calendar item after staff and Police Chief answered questions.

Public questions and staff answers: A resident who identified herself as Julie asked why the city would not seek competitive bids and how footage is reviewed and stored. She asked whether cameras record continuously while officers are in patrol cars, how long footage remains in the cloud, and whether footage is backed up locally. Police Chief Geisberger said the department expects officers to record on calls for service (rather than continuously while in patrol cars) and described the department’s current integration with the district attorney’s office: “Part of what Axon offers and why we, use them as a sole source is because they offer a product called evidence.com, which our district attorney's office has, and that allows us to, not only have community members upload videos to that link, but then the district attorney's office can get videos, from that link as well.” He added that reviewers vary by case, from sergeants to lieutenants and sometimes the chief, and that the department would investigate technical questions about camera buffering and uploads during outages.

Sole source and grants: City staff said the purchase is an amendment/renewal to an existing contract entered in 2019 and argued the vendor’s integrated platform and existing connections with the district attorney justify a sole‑source exemption under city procurement rules. Staff also said the purchase is supported by recurring COPS grant funds intended to support frontline public‑safety purchases.

Council action: Councilmember Jordan moved to approve the consent calendar containing the contract extension; the motion was seconded and passed by recorded vote. Councilmember Jordan, Vice Mayor Lopez, Mayor Mickey and Councilmember Hanson Romero voted yes. Councilmember Tieterman was absent.

Ending: Residents who asked questions at the meeting pressed for more public discussion of procurement and the department’s footage‑use policies; the chief and staff answered those questions on the record and noted existing public policy documents on camera use are posted on the department website.