Explanation
Background: This legislation authorizes the Finance and Management Director to enter into an option contract (UTC) to purchase next generation Body Worn Cameras (BWC), in-car cameras, interview room cameras, and associated accessories, software, maintenance, and support for the Division of Police with Axon Enterprise, Inc. These video camera systems are typically utilized by law enforcement to record interactions with the public. This technology promotes both transparency and accountability. The term of the proposed option contract is for three (3) years from the contract execution. The contract may be extended for up to two additional one (1) year periods, subject to mutual agreement by both parties.
The initial body-worn camera (BWC) program was initiated in 2015 by then City Council President Andrew J. Ginther. A committee comprised of community members, academia, the Fraternal Order of Police, and support staff from the Department of Public Safety and City Attorney’s Office: (1) promulgated policies for deployment, public records retention, and redaction by reviewing and evaluating virtually every BWC policy in the nation; and (2) purchased first-generation Body-Worn cameras from the vendor WatchGuard, who were later purchased by Motorola and now operate under that name.
Since 2016, approximately 3,470,283 body camera videos (over 593 TB) have been taken with these Motorola cameras. The millions of videos taken are public records thanks to the City's work leading to the passage of Ohio House Bill 425, which declared police videos to be public records. This legislation is nationally recognized as a model for effectively balancing transparency for the public and individual privacy.
To bring the next generation of video technology to the Columbus Division of Police, the Department of Public Safety assembled a multi-disciplinary team comprised of internal and external stakeholders with expertise and experience in technology, finance, law enforcem...
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