Despite calling Axon the “best company out there,” Police Chief Richard Griffin couldn’t convince everyone on the City Council that entering into a 10-year contract for Tasers, body cameras, dashboard cameras and data storage was the best thing for Crescent City.
According to Griffin, Axon has great equipment, their data storage capabilities frees up the city’s server and allows for easy searching. The company also offers the ability to upgrade to new cameras and Tasers without needing to pay extra, the chief said.
Appointed Councilman Steve Shamblin had misgivings.
“I think it’s a good deal for Axon,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s a good deal for Crescent city. I’d just hate to get locked into anything for 10 years. The technology could change, so many things could happen, and there is no easy out on this 10-year deal.”
Shamblin cast the sole dissenting vote Monday to approve the 10-year $1.099 million contract with Axon Enterprise Inc. According to the city’s staff report, the annual cost would be $94,711 between fiscal year 2027-28 and 2030-31 and would then increase to $125,314 for the remainder of the contract.
Under the contract, Crescent City would be enrolled in the Axon Technology Assurance Plan. This plan offers new body cameras every two-and-a-half years throughout the 10-year term. The city would get a new Taser model in 2031 and new in-car cameras in 2031 and 2036. The company also offers a “full equipment refresh” with the latest technology in 2031 at no additional cost, according to the city’s staff report.
The new contract also includes access to Axon artificial intelligence assistant program, which has translation capabilities from more than 50 languages, according to the staff report.
This new contract would replace four the city has had with Axon for about five years , which cost a total of about $94,709 annually with roughly $59,645 paying for Tasers and body cameras. City Manager Eric Wier said the company reached out to Griffin to propose consolidating them into one contract.
According to the city manager, this would be the first time the city entered into a 10-year agreement, but Axon’s offer to lock in an escalation rate of about 3% for the duration is its hook.
If the Council had kept its four contracts with Axon the escalation would have been between 5% and 8%, Crescent City Finance Director Linda Leaver said. She based that off information an Axon representative gave her regarding industry inflation being between 5% and 8% per year.
If Crescent City kept its current contracts with Axon, it could be paying about $1.19 million at the end of 10 years with a 5% annual increase, according to Leaver, or $1.37 million with an 8% annual increase.
Though this isn’t something Axon is offering, Leaver also applied a 3% inflation increase to the city’s current contract with the company to see what it would look like. At $1.085 million, “it’s slightly under what they’re proposing, but very close,” she said.
City Attorney Martha Rice said Axon also offers an “out clause.”
“If the City Council does not appropriate the funds, or doesn’t have the legal ability to spend the funds on the product, then we can terminate the contract,” she said. “If budgets get really tight and the Council decides we just don’t have $125,000 to spend on this, you could not fund it and terminate the contract.”
Wier said the question councilors had to answer didn’t necessarily concern the quality of Axon’s product.
The benefits include body cameras being activated any time an officer draws a Taser or a gun, he said, as well as the chief being able to monitor the situation remotely. Individual body camera footage would get uploaded to the cloud when the officer finishes his or her shift, Wier said. And the database allows the police department to redact someone’s image or license plate. It’s also easily searchable, Wier said.
Noting that the proposed contract would increase in price by about $30,000 in its fifth year, Wier said one of the conversations he had with the representative is what would happen if the Crescent City can’t afford it then.
“Axon probably wouldn’t provide the same equipment. There would have to be some decisions that would need to get made at that time,” he said.
In response to a question from Shamblin, Griffin said Crescent City owns the Tasers and body cameras included in its current contract with Axon. Compared to equipment from other companies, Griffin said they don’t come close to Axon’s capabilities.
“There’s not going to be anything better than Axon out there,” he said, adding that things like activating the body cameras when a Taser activates or the dash camera in the event of a collision makes the company stand out. “They’re leading the way by far, and it’s not even close.”
Crescent City Mayor Isaiah Wright said he remembers when a body camera’s battery would die before the end of a shift.
His colleague, Councilor Jason Greenough noted that having body camera and dash camera footage is necessary for defending the city’s police officers in the event of a lawsuit.
“This could pay for itself in one situation where a person could be suing you for multiple millions of dollars,” he told Griffin. “And you’re paying $100,000 to add this extra protection to your officers. I think it’s a no-brainer on this one.”
