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Police chief urges Peregrine AI purchase to free staff time; council weighs trade-off with animal-shelter project manager
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Summary
Beaumont police proposed an AI data‑integration subscription to automate database checks and free officer time; the chief said the city negotiated the price to $68,000 per year and offered using current salary savings to cover an initial multi-year purchase, while some council members voiced concern about tapping reserves for shelter staffing.
Beaumont's police department asked the council to authorize a subscription to Peregrine, an AI service the chief said would automate multi-database checks and free officers and records staff for field work.
“We spend approximately 4000 hours a a year checking various databases,” the chief said, explaining that Peregrine can “check that databases all in a measure of seconds.” He told council the vendor quote had been negotiated down from about $122,000 to $68,000 per year, and that the proposed contract term is three years.
Council members asked whether the software should take precedence over hiring a project manager for an animal-control shelter that staff expects to open in about six to nine months. The chief said he would prefer the software because it improves officer safety and efficiency, but he also flagged the shelter project manager as an important operational need.
To bridge the timing and budget question, the chief said the department currently has more than $1,000,000 in salary savings because of recent management changes and could use that savings to pay for the software in the current fiscal year rather than building an ongoing cost into future budgets.
Council discussed alternatives including paying for three years upfront with current savings to avoid adding ongoing costs to future forecasts, or delaying noncritical enhancements until a midyear review when salary savings and audited numbers are clearer. No formal procurement or personnel vote was taken during the meeting.
