To bring the Naples Police Department’s failing cameras, outdated Tasers and software systems up to date, City Council unanimously agreed to spend $1.74 million over five years for a state-of-the-art, coordinated system.
The July 29 vote during a special meeting waived competitive bidding and was needed because it will take Axon Enterprises Inc. 120 days to supply equipment, and the city budget won’t be finalized until late September. It would then have to go before Council for approval and ordered, so they wouldn’t receive it until May, while an early vote could end in a December delivery.
“The sooner we can give eyes—more eyes—to our officers while they’re out in the field and eyes right back to the police station and command staff, the better,” City Manager Jay Boodheshwar said before the vote.
The $349,768 in yearly payments, which reflects the five-year contract’s $172,967 discount, will cover 80 body cameras, 31 in-car camera systems, 80 Taser 10 electronic control devices, cloud-based storage for associated evidence and software, as well as installation, licensing and warranties.
In a memo provided to Council, Chief Ciro Dominguez said the city’s in-car camera system is in disrepair, the cameras frequently malfunction and fail to record properly. Research showed Axon is the only company whose products work together seamlessly to integrate video from all on-scene police officers’ body cameras, in car-cameras and Tasers, if deployed. That, added to imaging and audio capabilities that quickly adjust to changing light conditions, provides an accurate view from multiple angles.
The Taser 10 features 10 individually targeted probes, while NPD’s Tasers have two, and the newer version has a 45-foot range, compared with 25 feet.
“That is the best Taser that’s out there in the market,” Dominguez said at the meeting, calling it less lethal. “… The farther you are away from the threat, the better it is. … And all these things tie together, so when the Taser comes out, the camera comes on and the camera’s able to be fed to the car or to someone’s phone, so the technology is cutting edge.”
If police are in a combative environment and something goes wrong, he said it triggers in-car cameras and images are uploaded immediately. “The State Attorney’s Office has accessibility to it, we’re able to pull it up in real-time and any of the supervisors can pull up those cameras,” he said. “There isn’t a situation where you could lose the information. It’s all real-time.”
The top technology will make officers more efficient and effective, he said, adding, “but it comes with a price because technology is painfully expensive.”
Boodheshwar noted that Dominguez and Chief Tom Weschler, who retired last year, said body cameras are a best practice nationwide. “This does provide a lot of liability protection for us and our officers have embraced it,” Boodheshwar said.
Council member Beth Petrunoff cited concern over a class-action lawsuit filed last year that alleges Axon Enterprise maintains an unlawful monopoly, charging unfair prices for Tasers and body-cameras.
But Dominguez said only three municipalities sued and Axon supplies thousands of police agencies, including Collier County Sheriff’s Office and his former employer, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Two companies provide similar cameras, Motorola and Axon, and others aren’t as good. After a study, he said, Naples chose Axon because it bundled in the Taser, “a better, less lethal weapon.”
