The FY 2023 Police Department Operating Budget includes funding for the purchase of body cameras for most sworn personnel in the Police Department along with the purchase of new body camera compatible in-car cameras for most police vehicles. To determine which vendor of this equipment would best suit our needs, the Police Department sought to field test body cameras and see a demonstration of the in-car cameras from three vendors.
The vendors we contacted were Panasonic (our current vendor for in-car cameras), Axon, and Watchguard. Panasonic was contacted due to a record of good service with our current in-car cameras, along with the potential for cost savings if we could utilize some of our current in-car equipment. The only agency in Tennessee currently using Panasonic body cameras is the Jackson Police Department. This department just started using Panasonic’s body cameras and did not have enough experience with them to give us much feedback. Axon is widely known in the body camera market, and we received very positive feedback from police agencies currently using Axon such as Franklin, Clarksville, and Alcoa. Axon is also the manufacturer of the TASER our officers are currently utilizing, and we have been pleased with their performance and support. Watchguard, which is part of Motorola, was contacted due to our positive experience with their radio system. Metro Nashville Police utilize Watchguard for their body cameras, and we received some mixed reviews on their performance with Nashville. We met with Watchguard and signed an agreement to conduct a field test, but they chose not to follow through with the trial of their products.
Panasonic and Axon both provided body cameras for a field test and demonstrated their solutions for storage, video redaction, and video sharing. Both vendors also demonstrated the features of their in-car camera systems, and we tested a new in-car camera from Panasonic. We selected several officers to perform the field test on the body cameras, and the same officers wore the equipment from both vendors. Although the cameras were similar in size, weight, and features, all the officers who wore the cameras preferred the Axon, mainly because of how the mount for the camera integrated with their uniforms.
We evaluated the two systems for ease of storage, redaction, and video sharing. Everyone who evaluated these features preferred the Axon solution over Panasonic due to its simplicity and ease of use. The Axon solution has a dictation feature that creates a written narrative for the officers from their recordings, integrates with our current CAD software for auto tagging of incidents, and their in-car camera system also features built in license plate readers. Panasonic currently does not offer these features.
Based on these differences and the clear preference of those who tested the two options, the Police Department is recommending the purchase of body cameras and in-car cameras from Axon. Axon’s quote for 60 body cameras is $147,171.06, and their quote for 55 In-Car Cameras with installation is $137,280.00. The total cost for this project is $284,451.06 for the first year of a five-year term. For years two through five, the cost will be $281,701.00 per year. This quote includes the cost of video storage in the cloud by Axon. This purchase will be made using the Sourcewell Purchasing Cooperative of which both Axon and the City of Brentwood are members.
Please see the Chief of Police for any questions.
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