Gardena approves two‑year video policing maintenance agreement; police plan further camera upgrades

The Gardena City Council on Tuesday authorized a two‑year contract with Data Gear Inc. for maintenance and repair of the city's video policing system, with a not‑to‑exceed value of $430,000.

Captain Kevin Fox described recent modernization work under the prior contract — an upgrade of jail cameras and replacement of several cameras using Milestone software — and said the city currently operates 106 cameras across police facilities, parks, intersections and GTrans. He told council the updated system stores video for 365 days "which is per the law," and that the new contract includes ongoing maintenance across the system and planned additional upgrades to remaining park and intersection cameras.

The staff report said Data Gear was the only firm to submit a responsive proposal and that the company has previously provided maintenance and upgrades for the city. Funding for the contract is split between GTrans (about $15,000 per year) and the police department (about $200,000 per year), for a total two‑year cap of $430,000.

Council members asked about coverage, lighting at camera sites, time between refreshes and whether grants could offset costs; police and Data Gear representatives said maintenance includes same‑day response for outages and that camera hardware lifecycles are commonly five years or longer depending on upgrades. The council approved the contract unanimously.

What’s next: staff said they will continue to modernize park cameras and intersections, coordinate with Public Works on lighting and sight‑line issues, and return with any future additions or funding changes.