City Council Meeting Date: April 6, 2021
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Mark Elliott, Police Chief
Title
Consider a Motion to Authorize the Purchase of Body and Squad Cameras and Implementation.
Body
Action Requested:
Staff recommends a motion to approve the purchase of a body worn camera and squad camera system from Axon Enterprise Inc.
Summary Report:
The Northfield Police Department Body Worn Camera (BWC) program has been discussed for several years and was placed in the 2021 budget after several discussions during the process. Additional information was presented and discussed during the Police Policy Task Force, and several City Council meetings have had this program as a discussion item this winter. Included in the City Council meeting on March 2, 2021 was the acceptance of public comment. The comments submitted for this item were overwhelmingly supportive of the program.
The next step in the body worn camera program is to finalize a vendor and accept a contract for providing equipment and data storage. There are numerous vendors and numerous plans from several of the vendors. The police department has researched the options available and have decided on a vendor that meets the needs of the police department and the IT department, both of which have a significant stake in the program. In deciding on a vendor, the department compared program and pricing structures, product reliability and support, operational mechanics, interoperability between squad and body worn equipment, CJIS compliant storage options, and staff support capacity.
While cost is a major factor in making purchases, a purchase of a BWC system also must carefully consider reliability, the efficiency of uploading and downloading videos, durability of equipment and mounts, security of video storage, and product support. As was previously mentioned, the police department worked closely with the IT department on examining equipment and staff support for data storage and determined the most cost effective option is for a CJIS compliant cloud based storage solution. It was also important that a BWC program have an all-in-one package to reduce problems associated with interoperability between equipment, programs, and storage solutions.
Equipment durability and ease of use including activation methods, mounting solutions, and equipment ruggedness to handle the extreme operating temperatures in the Minnesota climate were all factored into selections. After considerations of a multitude of factors two vendors met all requirements from the police and IT departments, Axon and Motorola.
Both companies offer a variety of products and both have integrated squad and body camera products, and both submitted quotes. The technical support and software applications along with the hardware are acceptable to IT and police. There are additional options offered through Axon that do have the added benefit of increased efficiency for officers, investigators, and the evidence technician, although these are not included in the quote, but may be explored in the future.
The quotes received are for body and squad cameras and cloud based storage and product support for 5 years:
Axon Total 5 year $173,408.40
Billed annually. Year one $50,893.20, years 2-5 $30,628.80
Motorola Total 5 year $179,550.00
Billed $2992.50/Mo
As stated earlier the Axon product meets the requirements of the IT and Police Departments.
The Police Chief recommends going with the Axon product.
Alternative Options:
None recommended.
Financial Impacts:
Table 1. Financial Impact Summary Budget to Actual.
|
Description |
Budget ($) |
Actual ($) |
Difference ($) |
|
2021 cost only |
123,935 |
50,893 |
(73,042) |
|
2021-2025 total costs |
199,255 |
173,408 |
(25,847) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Footnotes |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Footnotes:
1. In the 2021 budget there were capital funds of $105,105 identified ($59,555 body cameras + $45,550 squad camera replacement). Additionally, there was operating funds of $18,830 budgeted for 2021 related to body camera expenses in the police department budgeted. During the budget presentation, we estimated the four years following for a total estimated cost of $199,255 over five years.
2. Staff recommends approval of the Axon quote of $173,408.40 with $50,893.20 for 2021 and $30,628.80 from operating funds for years 2022-2025.
3. This is under the budget for 2021 ($73,042 below budget) and over the full five year ($25,847) based on our estimate at the time of the 2021 budget request. Both Motorola and Axon have offered new pricing structures as they have heard from their customers that significant upfront capital costs have been cost prohibitive for smaller departments. These changes resulted in less year one costs and less overall costs as well.
Tentative Timelines:
Order and acquisition of cameras: Quarter two, 2021.
Installation, training, and implementation: Quarter three, 2021.