Title
An Ordinance Approving the Purchase of Body Cameras, In Car Audio/Video, and Interview Room Audio/Video System from WatchGuard Video, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $729,934.68 and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri. (F&BC 5/11/20)
Body
Issue/Request:
An Ordinance Approving the Purchase of Body Cameras, In Car Audio/Video, and Interview Room Audio/Video System from WatchGuard Video, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $729,934.68 and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Key Issues:
The existing In Car Audio/Video and Interview Room Audio/Video System in use by the Police Department is extremely antiquated.
Our server is over five years old and was no longer supported by the vendor as of 2017. In September of 2018, the Police Department discovered that the server hardware was no longer able to be updated. The server initially stores all audio and video that is recorded by our in-car systems. If the server was to fail, the City would have no way of recovering the audio and video it stores.
Our in-car systems are much older than the server. Because of their age, they are constantly in need of repair and often have problems recording audio and video appropriately. As of 2019, the in car hardware is no longer supported by the vendor and unable to be repaired.
Our current solution for our interview rooms is also antiquated. The Police Department is currently writing all interviews to a DVD using a consumer grade burner. If that burner was to fail, the City could potentially lose evidence crucial to cases. The Police Department would like to integrate the interview room audio/video recording with our in car solution so that we can have data redundancy and reduce the risk of lost data.
A bond that was passed provides the Police Department with $1,000,000 for this project to replace the existing video systems and purchase body worn cameras for police officers. The Police Department was also awarded a $254,455 grant from the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance for a body worn camera implementation project to go toward the implementation of body worn cameras.
To acquire a solution to replace the video system and acquire body worn cameras, RFP #2020-007 was released. Twenty eight firms were notified and viewed the documents. Seven firms responded to the solicitation:
-Axon Enterprise Inc.
-Coban Technologies
-Digital Ally Inc.
-Enforcement Video, LLC (WATCHGUARD VIDEO, INC.)
-Kustom Signals
-Pro-Vision Inc.
-Utility Associates Inc.
Proposals were reviewed by a committee of four, including staff from the Police Department. After proposal review, and subsequent presentations and interviews, WatchGuard Video, Inc. was selected as most advantageous to the City.
Proposed City Council Motion:
FIRST MOTION: I move for second reading of An Ordinance Approving the Purchase of Body Cameras, In Car Audio/Video, and Interview Room Audio/Video System from WatchGuard Video, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $729,934.68 and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri.
SECOND MOTION: I move for adoption of An Ordinance Approving the Purchase of Body Cameras, In Car Audio/Video, and Interview Room Audio/Video System from WatchGuard Video, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $729,934.68 and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Impact/Analysis:
If the City does not upgrade the video system:
1. The City's current system will continue to become more antiquated with time.
2. The City is losing crucial evidentiary video due to the current state of the system.
3. The vast majority of the current system is no longer supported and cannot be repaired.
Timeline:
Start: upon passage of the agreement
Presenter
Deputy Chief John Boenker
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval
Committee Recommendation
The Finance and Budget Committee recommended approval on May 11, 2020.