Feb. 7. By Dave Vieser. In an attempt to control costs, Cornelius Police will be changing the company which provides both in-car and body-worn cameras. The first year of a five-year transition to the Axon camera system got the green light at this week’s Town Board Meeting.

“The purpose of this transition was due to a significant cost increase from our current vendors—SafeFleet, Motorola and Watchguard,” said Chief David Baucom. He also noted that the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office has selected the Arizona-based police support company as their vendor for records management software.

Baucom said the change to Axon will bring the police department in-line with other agencies in the county and help with the prosecutorial process.

Chief Baucom

Details

The transition will be for 14 in-car cameras and 14 body-worn cameras each year. The contracts are for five years and additional contracts will be presented each year until the transition is completed for the entire department. The department has 66 body cameras, to match the total number of sworn officers, and 56 in-car cameras.

The in-car camera contract costs $43,591 annually, while the body-worn camera contract runs $20,003 per year. The cost of these contracts are covered by the current FY24 budget.

When did the CPD begin using in-car and body-worn cameras?

“We have had in-car camera systems my entire career which will be 25 years in April. I would feel comfortable saying nearly 30 years,” Baucom said.

CPD began using body-worn cameras in 2016.

What happens to the previously purchased equipment?

All of the used equipment is currently still in service. The new equipment will be installed in new police vehicles. Once the systems have reached their end of life, they are surplussed out and sold.