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Police chief pitches five‑year Axon technology bundle for drones, body cameras and analytics
Summary
Chief Gould outlined a proposed five‑year contract with Axon that would expand drone capabilities, upgrade Tasers and body cameras, add license‑plate readers and deploy an AI‑enabled real‑time crime center; the vendor estimated a five‑year increase of roughly $726,830 over the current contract, subject to board review and potential tradeoffs with existing systems.
The police chief presented a proposed five‑year, citywide public‑safety technology bundle from Axon that would add drones, upgrade Tasers and body cameras, and introduce a real‑time crime analytics platform the department says would increase investigative speed and officer situational awareness.
Chief Gould told the Board of Finance the bundle would be deployed beginning in July and would be budget‑neutral for fiscal 2027 while producing longer‑term savings compared with purchasing technologies individually. The proposal includes three Skydio X10 first‑responder drones and additional patrol drones, two additional indoor tactical drones, a drone‑beyond‑fixed‑site radar system, a portable drone‑detection system, replacement of current Taser 7 devices with Taser 10 units, upgraded body cameras and 5G routers, and a real‑time crime intelligence platform to consolidate up to 250 video feeds.
On public‑safety benefits, the chief said the Taser 10 "doubles our distance from the adversary" and provides more deployment options; he also emphasized translation functionality on body cameras, describing an "Axon Assistant" that can translate in real time across dozens of languages on the body‑worn stream.
Axon representative Joe Kwiatek explained options for integrating private business and resident cameras into the proposed Infusys platform: property owners can register camera feeds and provide access for specific incidents, while businesses can install a core device to stream to the police environment and elect optional subscriptions for their own view access.
The vendor presented five‑year cost comparisons: the current Axon suite for Bristol was estimated at about $3.3 million over five years; the proposed bundle was presented at about $4.0 million over five years, an increase of about $726,830 as shown in the proposal documents. The chief said the estimated net increase would be smaller if the city divested an existing LPR program; he recommended further review and a possible pilot to evaluate integration with the incumbent camera system.
Board members asked about vendor lock‑in, compatibility with existing systems (noting Flock cameras already in use), subscription models for private feeds and data access. Axon staff said systems can operate side‑by‑side and that integration is possible but may require time and testing. Several members asked to see demonstrations; the vendor offered to show a short video of the translation feature and other equipment.
