To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Jennifer Gonzales, Police Chief
Prepared By: Kristofer Jenny, Police Sergeant
TITLE:
Title
Body Worn Cameras and Digital Evidence Management for the Police Department
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution authorizing the Police Chief to execute an agreement with Axon Enterprises, Inc., in the amount of $1,574,131.72, for a five-year term to purchase body worn cameras, a digital evidence management system, and taser electronic control devices.
Body
DISCUSSION:
In September 2018, the City of Napa entered a five-year contract with Axon Enterprises, Inc. to provide cloud-based Digital Evidence Management through Evidence.com and body-worn cameras (BWC) for police department employees.
The police department retains approximately 31 terabytes (TB) of digital evidence at any given time and produces about .75 terabytes of new digital evidence each month. The body-worn cameras have maintained high reliability, enabling employees to record interactions with the public, capture evidence, and meet community expectations of accountability and transparency. This contract will renew the quality control and coaching tools used to monitor specified performance measures.
The police department continues to issue Taser electronic control devices, an integral less-lethal force option that are part of the de-escalatory tactics used by Napa Police Officers.
This new contract will combine existing contracts for Digital Evidence Management/Body-worn cameras (R2018-114), Axon Interview and Taser 7 Amendment (C2019-156), and Axon Performance (R2020-002) into one contract.
Axon Enterprises, Inc. is an industry leader that has demonstrated the ability to meet or exceed the needs of the police department in its service to the community. A review of other companies did not yield an alternative that could provide a bid for comparable products and services. As a result, Axon Enterprises, Inc. remains the preferred vendor.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
By authorizing the Police Chief to enter into this contract, the police department will spend approximately $314,939 per year for the specified services from Axon Enterprises. Funding for this contract was approved through FY 2025 by the City Council with the adoption of the current budget. The total cost of the contract is $1,574,132.
Consequences: If the Police Chief is not authorized to renew this contract, there will be an immediate impact on the police department’s ability to deliver digital evidence to the District Attorney’s office for the prosecution of crimes committed in the City of Napa.
The police department would have to acquire suitable hardware to collect and store digital evidence and acquire the software applications that would index that data and allow members to store, search, and share the evidence in a manner that is compliant with the current U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy (known as CJIS compliant), and the associated staff needed to maintain and operate these systems.
The Taser electronic control devices would require replacement in the next 12-24 months, potentially eliminating that less-lethal option, requiring a modification to our de-escalation tactics and training.
CEQA:
The Police Chief has determined that the recommended action described in this agenda report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
EX A - Axon Contract 2023
NOTIFICATION:
None.