Bullhead City police seek 2 officers and funding for Axon AI body‑camera reporting and other equipment

Chief Trebes told the council the police department is requesting two additional full‑time officers — bringing authorized strength near an historic high — and a roughly $473,000 increase driven largely by personnel and targeted capital and technology needs.

The department asked for about $97,000 tied to an Axon body‑camera/report writing program that transcribes audio and produces draft reports for officers to review. Chief Trebes said the system has been in local testing for four to five months and would save officer report writing time; he described safeguards so officers must review and sign reports before submission. "There's a transcription that we can see, but actually what gets produced that we use is the report," he said.

Other requests include about $70,000 for upgraded SWAT soft‑body armor and carriers, $31,000 for patrol rifles, $16,000 for optics and holsters, boating headset systems to protect officers' hearing, and increased maintenance for the Motorola radio system. The chief also proposed a $30,000 contract to retain expert law‑enforcement counsel (Edwards & Amato) for mid‑night legal advice and policy reviews.

Council members asked how the Axon product links footage and reports and whether it legally tested; staff said the department spoke with legal counsel and another nearby agency that has used the technology for two years and saw no legal conflicts during testing. The chief said the department has budgeted incremental adoption and will place some IT costs in the IT budget rather than police operations.

Next steps: Council will consider the police requests as part of the overall budget adoption process; staff flagged that some equipment may be purchased through capital or IT accounts rather than directly from the police operating budget.