Department of Police
Reference: Approving the procurement of 21-006857 Officer Safety Program 7+
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Jane Bais DiSessa, City Manager
Prepared By: Amber Gibbs, Procurement & Contracts Manager and Matthew Domenico, Patrol Commander
Through: Maria Ostrom, Finance Director and Paul Southard, Chief of Police
Date Prepared: May 14, 2021
PURPOSE
Requesting City Council approval of formal solicitation for project # 21-006857 Officer Safety Program 7+ (body worn cameras), and approving the resolution giving the City Manager, or Designee, authority to sign the contract. Municipal Code Section 3.08.090, “…All bids and proposals in excess of $50,000 shall be awarded through formal written procedures by the City Council.”
BACKGROUND/HISTORY
In the first quarter of 2020 the Police Department was tasked with researching information related to implementation of a police body worn (BWC) camera program. Shortly after beginning this research the state legislature passed Senate bill 20-217 requiring local law enforcement agencies to implement BWC’s no later than July 1st, 2023. Police Department staff submitted preliminary findings to council on July 28th, 2020 recommending the police department implement a cloud based BWC program, along with estimated fiscal impacts of the program. Council directed police department staff to proceed with the implementation of the BWC program.
In the third quarter of 2020 police department staff established a body worn camera taskforce and began studying available options. In addition to researching suitable vendor’s police department staff identified other stakeholders that would be impacted by the implementation of BWC’s, which included other partner law enforcement agencies in the 17th judicial district, the Adams County District Attorney’s office, the Brighton Municipal court, Information Technology and others. The results of the task force’s research identified AXON as the most suitable vendor due to the existing infrastructure that has already been established by other law enforcement agencies in the 17th Judicial District, which allows direct access of BWC footage for the Adams County District Attorney’s office.
The recommended suite of products differs from the original scope of the project, which was only body worn cameras, as we are able to leverage our purchase to include a number of other products already in use by the department in order to consolidate purchases and spending, and ensure the department has the most effective and efficient products now and in the future. The recommended contract with Axon includes the following products
• Axon offers a suite of services bundled under the Officer Safety Program 7+ which includes the following:
o Body Worn cameras (BWC) for all sworn staff
§ Includes unlimited cloud based storage
§ Includes needed accessories such as uniform clips, etc.
§ Includes access to evidence.com
• Storage and transfer of all digital evidence
• Auto tagging of footage
§ Signal technology to automatically activate BWC under certain circumstances
• Drawing of sidearm/Taser
• Activation of emergency equipment
§ Axon BWC dock for all BWC (recharge/download footage)
o Taser 7 Conducted energy weapons
§ Includes initial issue and replacement cartridges
§ Voucher for master level training (train the trainer)
§ Includes holsters for each Taser 7
§ Replacement batteries
§ Training materials
o Fleet 3 dash cameras for 25 marked patrol vehicles
§ 2 cameras per vehicle
§ Includes all necessary licenses
§ Includes installation of new cameras and removal of existing cameras, to include additional hardware in vehicles
o Existing interview room recording system contract and licenses
§ This purchase will roll the existing contract for this hardware and software into the new Axon contract to ensure all Axon products are billed in this updated contract.
o White glove, no fault, warranty on all hardware
The BWC’s and Taser 7’s are all included in the Officer Safety Plan 7+. The Fleet dash cameras and the interview room are itemized separately in the attached contract.
Axon is being recommended as the most responsive and responsible vendor for a number of reasons, to include the availability of cooperative price agreements, seamless integration with the Adams County District Attorney’s office, who have been identified as a critical stakeholder on this project, cloud based storage of all departmental digital evidence, and the demonstrated performance with partner law enforcement agencies operating under the Adams County Communication Center umbrella. Feedback from Commerce City Police, Thornton, Northglenn and other area agencies utilizing Axon was all positive and recommended as the vendor of choice.
The reason for the change in scope on this project from the initial presentation to Council is due in large part to the selection of Axon as the recommended vendor and our current use of a number of their products. The Brighton Police Department currently utilizes Taser conducted energy weapons (CEWs) (52 as of today’s date), which is an Axon product, and deploys them to all uniformed staff on a daily basis. The usage of this critical piece of equipment is in line with industry best practices as a de-escalation tool and less than lethal force option for officers to use. The use of this tool has prevented injuries to arrestees and officers on a regular basis. The vast majority of police departments across the country use Taser CEW’s and there is no other option available that provides the ease of use and reliability of the Axon product. The contract provides a significant discount for trade in of existing Taser’s and ensures all sworn staff has the most up to date product they offer.
The department currently utilizes dash cameras in its fleet of marked vehicles. These cameras provide valuable evidence in law enforcement situations that occur in and around the vehicle and has the ability to capture occurrences that would be missed by BWC’s, specifically offender driving actions and incidents that occur with occupants and detainees in the backseat of the marked cars. The vendor currently being used for dash cameras does not integrate with Axon BWC’s and we store all footage on city servers, at a significant cost to the city. Transitioning to Axon for dash cameras will allow integration of captured footage from the vehicle cameras and body worn cameras to provide a more comprehensive view of incidents. In addition utilizing two separate vendors for BWC and dash cameras will increase officer workload and result in more time spent on administrative activities for uniformed staff.
The department currently is under contract for two interview room recording systems with Axon. The price reflected regarding this line item is the same price we are currently paying.
Axon has provided two separate contract options, 5 or 10 year. The year over year cost for the ten year contract is outlined below for reference. It should be noted that there are no anticipated additional expenditures as a result of this purchase. Additionally regardless of this contract there would be year over year costs we would still be expected to have with Axon regarding Tasers, the interview room, training, and replacement accessories. Utilizing Axon as a complete solution should also save the department money regarding ever increasing storage costs for digital evidence.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The table below outlines the cost of the 10-year lease. Sufficient appropriation exists in the 2021 budget to cover the cost of year 1. Years 2 through 10 are subject to annual appropriation.
|
YEAR |
1 |
$ 275,891.34 |
|
YEAR |
2 |
$ 275,890.96 |
|
YEAR |
3 |
$ 275,890.96 |
|
YEAR |
4 |
$ 275,890.96 |
|
YEAR |
5 |
$ 275,890.96 |
|
YEAR |
6 |
$ 275,891.02 |
|
YEAR |
7 |
$ 275,891.02 |
|
YEAR |
8 |
$ 275,891.02 |
|
YEAR |
9 |
$ 275,891.02 |
|
YEAR |
10 |
$ 275,891.02 |
|
TEN-YEAR CONTRACT TOTAL VALUE |
$ 2,758,910.28 |
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a ten year agreement, subject to annual budget appropriations, with Axon Enterprise, Inc. via the national cooperative contract with the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO).
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
Ø Approval as presented
Ø Reject
Ø Require new proposals be prepared
Attachments:
Ø Resolution