By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The Zeeland Police Department is switching suppliers for body and dash cameras for its patrol officers.
The City Council on June 15 authorized the department to enter into a five-year contract with Axon to supply the body and dash cams, over a lower-cost proposal from the department’s current supplier, Motorola. The city will pay Axon $282,904 over the five-year period, or annual payments of $56,065.
Police Chief Tim Jungel told the council that current Motorola system has done “an excellent job” of recording videos and storing them. But Axon’s proposal included features that Motorola’s didn’t, most notably the acquisition of new Taser weapons, as well as live mapping and streaming, and virtual reality training, Jungel said.
“The current Taser that we carry is older and needs to be switched out,” the chief said. “We’ve been putting that off for a move like this.”
Motorola had offered $140,085 over a five-year contract for the body and dash cams, while the department would have had to purchase new Tasers under a separate contract with Axon at an additional cost of $70,000 for a total cost of $210,085, or annual payments of $42,017, Jungel said.
Zeeland Police are joining other Ottawa County agencies, including Holland and Grand Haven police as well as the Sheriff’s Department, in purchasing the Axon system to benefit from group pricing. The county prosecutor’s office is requiring law enforcement agencies to submit cases to their office using Axon’s digital evidence program, Jungel said.
Jungel spoke about the virtual reality training that officers will go through under the Axon contract.
“There’s three different aspects to it. One is just range training, so it has a VR Taser and a VR handgun that are the same as ours, so they’ll be recognized by the VR equipment, but they’re not real weapons,” Jungel said. “We can go in our training room and (go over) this is how you use this weapon. They can practice with the new Tasers that we’re going to get without spending hours and hours at the range. We can do it on shift.”
The VR training also can simulate situations where someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, Jungel said.
Axon will replace the body and dash cameras every two-and-a-half years, Jungel said.
The police department has had its current body and dash cameras for six years.
Zeeland Record
The Zeeland Police Department is switching suppliers for body and dash cameras for its patrol officers.
The City Council on June 15 authorized the department to enter into a five-year contract with Axon to supply the body and dash cams, over a lower-cost proposal from the department’s current supplier, Motorola. The city will pay Axon $282,904 over the five-year period, or annual payments of $56,065.
Police Chief Tim Jungel told the council that current Motorola system has done “an excellent job” of recording videos and storing them. But Axon’s proposal included features that Motorola’s didn’t, most notably the acquisition of new Taser weapons, as well as live mapping and streaming, and virtual reality training, Jungel said.
“The current Taser that we carry is older and needs to be switched out,” the chief said. “We’ve been putting that off for a move like this.”
Motorola had offered $140,085 over a five-year contract for the body and dash cams, while the department would have had to purchase new Tasers under a separate contract with Axon at an additional cost of $70,000 for a total cost of $210,085, or annual payments of $42,017, Jungel said.
Zeeland Police are joining other Ottawa County agencies, including Holland and Grand Haven police as well as the Sheriff’s Department, in purchasing the Axon system to benefit from group pricing. The county prosecutor’s office is requiring law enforcement agencies to submit cases to their office using Axon’s digital evidence program, Jungel said.
Jungel spoke about the virtual reality training that officers will go through under the Axon contract.
“There’s three different aspects to it. One is just range training, so it has a VR Taser and a VR handgun that are the same as ours, so they’ll be recognized by the VR equipment, but they’re not real weapons,” Jungel said. “We can go in our training room and (go over) this is how you use this weapon. They can practice with the new Tasers that we’re going to get without spending hours and hours at the range. We can do it on shift.”
The VR training also can simulate situations where someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, Jungel said.
Axon will replace the body and dash cameras every two-and-a-half years, Jungel said.
The police department has had its current body and dash cameras for six years.
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