Picayune council approves five-year Axon body-camera contract and other police items

The Picayune City Council on Oct. 7 approved a package of police department items that includes a five-year contract with Axon for body cameras, a policy-management contract for PowerDMS, annual training renewals and acceptance of a donated explosive-detection canine.

Chief Quay told the council the Axon contract covers a five-year period and includes 19 cloud-enabled patrol cameras; he said the new contract is about $1,000 a year cheaper than the city’s previous arrangement and that trading in existing cameras reduced the upfront cost by roughly $16,000. “By going with the same company, we save about $16,000 upfront because we’re able to trade in these cameras toward the upfront cameras that we’re gonna have into this contract,” the chief said.

Council members asked how many officers would carry devices and whether non‑patrol staff would remain equipped. Quay said all patrol officers would have the cloud-enabled model and non‑patrol personnel would keep a model that does not require cloud storage. The council approved the contract by voice vote.

The council also approved annual renewals and sole-source letters the chief presented: a 12‑month Virtual Academy online training contract ($3,375) and a 12‑month SureTech contract ($2,963) for routine training and services. The chief said the department renews those services annually.

For policy management, the council approved a PowerDMS sole-source letter and a 12‑month contract for $9,074.82. The chief said PowerDMS stores standard operating procedures, general orders and an accreditation module the department uses to maintain accreditation.

Separately, council accepted a donated explosive-detection canine named Nitro from Janie Fuller (Cougar Creek K9) and Jennifer Clay (Southern Cosmos K9). Quay said the dog will support pre-event sweeps and other security tasks at no cost to the city. “It’s another level of security we can have,” he said.

The meeting also cleared travel for Sergeant Chris Benton to attend a handler course in Troy, Alabama, and approved adding several seized items (a 2009 Chevy Silverado and listed firearms) to police inventory. All police items on the agenda were approved by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the minutes.

Next procedural step: the contracts will be executed as authorized by the council and the police department will implement the equipment and training renewals.