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Commission approves purchase of cellular modems to improve police in‑car data and body‑camera uploads
Summary
Dade City approved Agreement 2026‑24 to equip police vehicles with cellular modems and antennas to provide more reliable, centrally managed mobile data for body camera uploads and in‑car systems; staff said the change will improve data integrity and provide bill incentives.
The Dade City Commission on April 14 approved an agreement to purchase cellular data modems and antennas for police vehicles to improve mobile connectivity and enable in‑vehicle uploading of body camera footage.
City staff said the existing mobile hotspots have limited reception and speed; replacing them with the proposed devices will provide faster, centrally manageable connections, reduce cybersecurity risk from unmanaged hotspots and permit near‑real‑time uploads from officers in the field. "This agreement provides faster, more reliable, and centrally manageable mobile data connections," City Manager Van Ervin said.
City Attorney Brackens reviewed a minor insurance change to adopt piggybacked contract insurance language consistent with the master agreement. Commissioners discussed evidentiary integrity and automatic upload timing; an IT/Axon representative explained that, with the vehicle connection, body camera data uploads automatically when a connection is available, reducing the risk that footage could be lost between a field event and station download.
Funding of $61,579.68 will come from the FY25‑26 IT budget, and staff expects billing incentives to offset part of the cost. The commission approved the agreement by voice/roll call vote 5–0. Staff will implement the devices and coordinate deployment with the police department.
