By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
RIVERVIEW — The City Council approved a five-year contract with Axon Enterprise Inc for a body worn camera system for the Police Department.
During a March 15 council study session, Police Chief Ronald Beggs said that as soon as the agreement is signed and sent to Axon it could take three months to receive the body cameras.
“They will immediately start putting our system together and getting all the equipment produced,” he said. “We’ll set a date. They actually send a team out here that will train our officers and do some installations and help set up the system.”
The total contract cost is set at $137,006. Included are 23 body worn cameras, camera docking stations, signal side arm kit, signal Taser battery pack and system cloud storage.
Axon is allowing the city to make five yearly payments of $27,401 which will be paid from drug forfeiture funds.
At a March 15 council meeting following the study session, the council approved the contract.
Beggs made a presentation to the council during a March study session where he explained the department looked at three body camera companies, Axon, Pro-Vision and WatchGuard VISTA. His recommendation was Axon because it provided the best needs for the Police Department, day-to-day operations and in the event of a critical incident.
Beggs further explained how the body camera system would benefit the department with its features, data storage, side arm signal feature, prosecuting in court cases and real-time live stream.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])