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Bedford council approves roughly $5.3 million, 10‑year police technology contract
Summary
The Bedford City Council on June 23 authorized a roughly $5.32 million, 10‑year agreement to replace and expand police tasers, body and fleet cameras, automated license‑plate readers, drone sensors, VR training and AI tools; council voted unanimously after questions about cost, refreshes and data access.
The Bedford City Council voted unanimously June 23 to authorize a 10‑year program agreement for police equipment and software totaling approximately $5.32 million, authorizing the city manager to execute the contract through BuyBoard. Police Chief Bobby Lapena told the council the bundled package includes 81 Taser 10 devices, about 98 Axon Body 4 cameras, 30 fleet cameras with automated license‑plate readers, nine outpost cameras, four radio‑frequency drone sensors, virtual‑reality training stations, AI report‑writing and unlimited cloud storage.
"This is a want, but it's a need in our industry," Police Chief Bobby Lapena said, describing the bundle as an effort to avoid equipment failures and to ensure warranty coverage and regular hardware refreshes during the contract. He said the package also adds features not in the current contract, including live streaming to command staff, automated activation sensors for cameras and AI tools that draft officer reports.
Lapena and staff outlined a multiwave refresh timeline: initial deployment in 2026, a primary refresh in 2029 for body cameras and VR, and subsequent refresh cycles through the 10‑year term. He said the city can set data‑retention parameters and that access to stored video would be limited to authorized personnel and to other law‑enforcement agencies as needed. On whether the city could take down a threatening drone, Lapena said the department has plans and capabilities to respond.
On budget impact, Lapena said the bundled price offers a large net savings compared with buying items a la carte and estimated the city currently spends roughly $163,926 on Axon services plus about $65,000 on a separate contract. He told council the first‑year net increase would be about $301,294, with roughly $303,006 in recurring annual costs thereafter, and that the agreement locks in a price schedule for the next decade.
Council members asked about technology obsolescence, adding officers or cameras in the future, interoperability with existing Flock cameras and whether data were sold to third parties. Lapena said refresh waves would deliver new hardware as the vendor develops it, licensing can be adjusted for additional officers, existing Flock contracts will run in parallel during a phased transition, and that the city controls retention settings and limits access to authorized users.
Council member Gagliardi moved to approve the agreement and Council member Farco seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
The next procedural step is for the city manager to finalize the contract terms and incorporate funding during the upcoming budget process; staff noted the agreement includes a non‑appropriation clause allowing council budget discretion at adoption.
