Isanti Council approves Motorola body‑camera purchase citing server limits and long‑term costs

City staff recommended the Isanti City Council authorize purchase of a Motorola body‑worn camera system and cloud storage after describing current storage‑capacity and backup failures with the city’s on‑premise server.

A staff presenter told the council the existing server and backup system lack sufficient capacity and disaster‑recovery capabilities and that when the server goes down the department has no access to stored footage. The presenter described a cost comparison showing on‑premise storage plus a backup service would cost more over a five‑year period than the Motorola cloud‑based option. The staff presenter summarized: “At the end of this 5 years, we own the equipment,” and described a five‑year operating estimate of roughly $140,000 when spread across equipment, licensing and storage.

The presenter said some of the quoted figures include an upfront hardware startup and annual fees; the staff presentation referenced a roughly $21,000‑per‑year backup estimate for the city’s current arrangement and noted that migrating to the vendor cloud would eliminate a separate backup fee while providing vendor‑managed storage and recovery.

The staff member also said the purchase is expected to be paid from public‑safety aid funds. Council members discussed useful life of existing cameras (purchased in 2018) and the need for reliable cameras and storage. Councilman Lundin moved to approve and Councilman Heaman seconded; the council voted to approve the resolution 5‑0.

Council members and staff said they would proceed with procurement and implementation planning consistent with the council’s capital and operating budget planning.