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Committee hears plan to shift evidence storage to Axon and join regional CAD system

Benton Harbor Public Safety & Public Works Committee · February 12, 2026

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Summary

Benton Harbor staff proposed moving digital evidence (body‑cam video, photos and audio) from city servers to Axon evidence storage and joining a regional computer‑aided dispatch system; staff said the one‑time move would be a small upfront cost (reported as $226 in the packet) and eliminate about $1,000/month in storage costs, while CAD implementation would rely on county and state grant support to cover roughly $30,000 of city costs.

Benton Harbor public‑safety staff presented two technology items aimed at efficiency and officer safety: migrating digital evidence to Axon evidence storage and joining a regional computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) platform.

On evidence storage, staff said the city currently maintains body‑cam footage and related files on a local server at an ongoing cost of roughly $1,000 per month. The proposal would move that data to Axon, the city's current body‑camera vendor, under a one‑time city payment listed in the report as "$226." Staff said the migration would eliminate the current $1,000/month storage expense (about $12,000 per year) and provide tamper‑resistant cloud storage and easier sharing for investigations.

On CAD, staff described a live mapping and unit‑location tool already in use in neighboring jurisdictions that provides real‑time dispatch comments, unit tracking and improved situational awareness for officers. Staff said the county negotiated a major portion of the system cost and the city's incremental share would be roughly $30,000, but that a state grant already earmarked for the project would cover that amount, producing essentially no net initial cost to the city. Implementation timing was discussed; presenters said fire will likely be implemented first and full regional rollout could occur in 2025 with a May 31 deadline mentioned for related county activity.

Committee members asked about which other agencies use the systems and how fast implementation could occur; staff said the region (including Niles and others) uses similar platforms, the fire side should have the system within a month or two after rollout, and full deployment for police-related features likely will proceed through 2026. The committee supported forwarding the Axon storage proposal and CAD discussion to the full commission for formal consideration and public input.