Kaysville Police Chief Solomon Oberg recently briefed the Mayor and City Council on the body and dash cameras issued to police officers and deployed on the officer’s person and in their vehicle. He said they stayed with their current system to be fiscally resourceful, but it is at its end of life and no longer supported by its parent company, Motorola. This will require replacing all hardware as well as the storage for the digital content. The city believes that it is in the best interest of the public to authorize the purchase of a new police camera system. 

Oberg explained this purchase request is for a body camera and dash camera system, including hardware, software, and storage. He said Motorola and the other body/dash camera companies contacted have moved to a subscription-based model. The model would provide storage, warranty, and new equipment over the course of the five-year agreement. The cost for this program would total $465,574 over five years. The first payment would not be due until July 1, 2024; however, the agreement needed to be formalized before Dec. 22, 2023. “Although this purchase does not impact the current budget, it would impact future budgets by entering into the agreement now,” Oberg said.

Oberg said the department spends anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000 annually on the current in-car camera and body camera program. These costs would be eliminated with the proposed program as it includes replacement hardware for broken equipment and provides entirely new equipment periodically throughout the contract. The program also includes digital storage for video content and would replace the server currently being used. He said the current server needs to be replaced and would cost about $20,000. By staying with Motorola (the same provider they have used for the past 15+ years) there was no need to transfer the data, as it would remain with the same provider. “This would enable us to continue our operations seamlessly” said Oberg, “without additional training that going to a new system would necessitate.”

Oberg said this system provides more services than the lowest bidder and would provide additional benefits through interoperability (the computer-aided dispatch system and radios are also Motorola products). Other benefits include officers on the road being able to automatically upload encrypted video from in-car systems and body cameras, thereby eliminating the need for trips to and from the station solely for uploading data into the system. Video and audio captured by the camera systems are automatically linked based on time and location; you can then utilize synchronized playback and expert of video and audio from multiple devices in the same recording group, where video and audio streams can be matched together.

Officers can also categorize recordings using event tags, stream live video from, and change camera settings such as adjusting field of view, brightness, and audio levels. The system also tracks devices and enables them to be quickly exchanged between officers during shift changes, minimizing the number of devices needed for the department.

Oberg said that by signing this contract with Motorola by Dec. 22, 2023, the city will realize $69,000 in cost savings and fixed pricing into the next fiscal year. He said they would not be the first city to utilize this program, as other cities have signed on before them. This provides the opportunity to talk with other officers and learn about issues or best practices ahead of implementation. 

After budgetary discussion, the City Council unanimously approved the contract authorizing the purchase of the new police camera system.