REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
May 21, 2020
FROM: ANDREW HALL, Chief of Police
Police Department
BY: LYDIA CARRASCO, Deputy Chief
Administrative Services Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the Police Department’s Axon Body Worn Cameras
1. Award a sole source contract in the amount of $839,900 for the first year and $788,500 per year for the remaining four years, for the maintenance and upgrade of 556 Taser X26P conducted energy weapons (CEW’s, also known as “TASERS”), 556 Flex 2 body-worn video cameras, and unlimited video storage through TASER’s Evidence.com storage service.
2. ***RESOLUTION - Adopt a Resolution authorizing the establishment of a contract for the purchase and service of body-worn cameras, data storage, and conducted electrical weapons with Axon International, Inc. without advertised competitive bidding (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council authorize the Chief of Police to enter into an agreement with Axon Enterprise, Inc. to service and upgrade 556 body-worn cameras, TASERS and for unlimited video storage through Evidence.com storage service, in the amount of $3,993,900. The funding for the first year is included in the Police Department’s FY 20 budget and will be from a combination of sources as shown below.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For nearly the past five years, all officers assigned to Patrol have deployed either the Axon Flex or Flex 2 body-worn camera and the TASER X26P or X2. In addition, many officers and detectives assigned to tactical teams have been assigned Flex 2 body-worn cameras including the Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and the Traffic Bureau.
The use of body worn cameras has made officers more conscientious of the manner in which they perform their duties and more patient and creative in resolving conflict while interacting with the public. Members of the public may be less confrontational knowing they are being video recorded. In addition, the videos captured during critical incident investigations have created a greater level of trust in the resolution of these cases by members of the public.
The use of body worn cameras has assisted in the resolution of internal affairs investigations, whether they be department generated or complaints generated by the public. Internal Affairs data shows that citizen generated complaints have decreased steadily from 63 in 2014 to 41 in 2019, while department generated complaints have increased from 55 in 2014 to 94 in 2019. While there are many factors that have contributed to the total number of complaints generated, the use of body camera recordings and the interactions with the public has been extremely valuable during all internal investigations against police officers.
This contract will allow the Department to continue to equip 556 officers; every member who regularly interacts with members of the public, with a body worn camera and TASER X26P, maintaining our existing TASERs in addition to upgrading older body worn cameras. The contract also includes all media storage related to the use of the devices.
BACKGROUND
Video technology is being utilized by law enforcement agencies at an increasing pace. The first large scale introduction of video technology for police officers was limited to “in-car” video camera systems. However, “in-car” video systems were limited to video footage captured from the front facing perspective of the vehicle.
Personal body-worn cameras were eventually introduced as a more realistic tool to capture the true “point of view” of a police officer. In an era of increased public scrutiny and litigation, body-worn camera systems provide video evidence to capture critical incidents in a manner much closer to the officer’s perspective. Video gathered has proven to be invaluable during investigations of complaints against police officers.
AXON has patented a body-worn video camera technology system - AXON Flex 2, and a secure, patented cloud based video storage component called “Evidence.com.” AXON Enterprise’s trademarked mounting capabilities provide unparalleled options for users to place a video camera on sunglasses, helmets, lapels and uniform epaulettes to provide a relatively unobstructed point of view. The variety of mounting options and field of view of the camera is not available from other manufacturers.
The extended battery life provides approximately 12 hours of video camera operation to accommodate an officer’s entire work shift. The battery pack has LED lights to show the battery level remaining and operating mode of the unit. The video camera system has a “Bluetooth” pairing component to allow video playback on a mobile device, yet the camera has an internal security system which prevents users from altering or deleting video footage.
The video camera system includes the evidence transfer system which downloads all of the video footage at the completion of a work shift into a secured, cloud based server while also fully charging the battery. The evidence server is a hosted management system which enables police departments to seamlessly manage and share digital evidence. The management system allows an agency to establish password encrypted access levels for officers, supervisors and managers. The system has a feature for the Chief of Police to designate one department member to have specialized access, which is the highest authorization level. Another access feature allows assisting agencies such as district attorneys, or federal prosecutors to have “read only” password encrypted access to digital evidence for prosecution.
This contract also addresses the Department’s aging TASERs, which are in need of upgrade/replacement. The contract will cover the entire cost of the TASERs, cameras, mounting options, data storage, evidence.com docking and charging terminals, the annual licensing fees, a one-year factory warranty and additional two-year extended warranty. The warranties will fully cover the cameras and TASERs for a total of five years. While under contract, cameras will be replaced every 2.5 years, and TASERs will be replaced once every 5 years.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a “project” for the purposes of CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
This contract would be awarded as a sole source, meaning local preference would not apply since there is a single provider of the specified equipment.
FISCAL IMPACT
The first year payment in 2020 will total $839,900, and the subsequent four payments will be $788,500 from 2021 through 2024. The payments for all five years include all applicable taxes. Funding is included in the Police Department’s FY 20 budget and will be from a combination of sources as shown below.
|
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
Total |
|
SLESA- Camera |
65,000 |
65,000 |
65,000 |
65,000 |
65,000 |
$325,000 |
|
SLESA- TASER |
65,000 |
65,000 |
65,000 |
65,000 |
65,000 |
$325,000 |
|
General Fund |
709,900 |
658,500 |
658,500 |
658,500 |
658,500 |
$3,343,900 |
|
Total funding |
$839,900 |
$788,500 |
$788,500 |
$788,500 |
$788,500 |
$3,993,900 |
Attachments:
Resolution
AXON Enterprise Quote
Sole Source Memo