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Council approves contract addendum tying Axon 9-1-1 platform to reseller; police describe AI features
Summary
Council approved an addendum with reseller Shy International to formalize relationships between the city, reseller and Axon for the 9-1-1 platform; police administration described new features including assistive call-taking, automated quality assurance and automated non-emergency triage, and officials said the addendum does not raise direct costs to the city.
The Warren City Council approved a contract addendum on March 10 that formalizes an agreement between the city, reseller Shy International Corporation and Axon Enterprises for the city’s 9-1-1 platform. Council members were told the addendum ties the contractual relationships to protect the city without changing the underlying Axon technology or increasing the city’s payments.
Councilmember Lafferty (who spoke during the discussion) said the addendum is “an addendum only” and does not change the underlying contract with Axon; he said it ensures protections obligating the reseller to make payments to Axon and limiting city liability. Councilmember Noonan asked whether the arrangement would cost the city more; legal and administration responded that it would not and that the purchase is through a Sourcewell cooperative contract.
Police administration provided operational context for additional platform features referenced in the addendum. Kathy Chisholm of the police administration described several capabilities: “assistive call taking,” which she called a real-time call coach to help dispatchers ask pertinent questions; automated quality assurance for review of calls; and automated non-emergency triage to route some callers off the 9-1-1 line to appropriate nonemergency resources. She said these functions support dispatchers rather than replace them.
At the hearing, one councilmember characterized the multi-year program cost roughly as a quarter-million dollars a year over the contract term. Council members agreed the discussion of the platform features was useful but noted that the addendum before the council was procedural, tying the reseller to existing contractual obligations. The council approved the addendum by voice vote.
Next steps: staff will proceed to execute the addendum and monitor implementation; council members asked that details about cooperative procurement and cost structure remain available on request.
