Chula Vista council approves Axon FUSIS system for police real‑time crime center

The Chula Vista City Council unanimously approved a master services and purchasing agreement with Axon Enterprise Inc. on Jan. 6 to implement FUSIS as the police department’s new real‑time crime center software.

Assistant Chief Peake introduced the item and Public Safety Analyst Tonia Dunneback described the system’s capabilities: a web‑based “single pane of glass” that consolidates feeds from city‑owned cameras, drone video, automatic license plate readers (ALPR), computer‑aided dispatch and body‑worn camera location data. Staff said FUSIS acts as an interface to existing systems rather than storing personally identifying information, and highlighted vendor compliance certifications (including CJIS) and auditing features that will log who accesses which data.

The city reported a fiscal impact of $135,000 per year and a potential five‑year value of $677,000. Staff said funding for the first two years would come from the police department’s asset seizure fund and that finance staff would determine funding for later years. Council members pressed staff on security, penetration testing, audit logs and whether the system retains data. Staff responded that regular penetration testing and audit metrics will be available and that the installed system functions as a secure window to other systems; they also said staff will report back to the Police Technology Advisory Commission (PTAC) after installation.

Public commenters raised procedural questions about PTAC meeting schedules and urged fuller public engagement during PTAC review. Council members who had attended demonstrations expressed support for the upgrade, stressing the value of situational awareness for field response. The council approved resolutions to enter the Axon master services agreement and to amend the existing Motorola agreement; both measures passed unanimously.