DATE: June 21, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Police Department Dash Cameras: Work Session to Review a Proposed Hayward Police Department Capital Improvement Project Regarding the Purchase of Axon Fleet Vehicle Dash Cameras with Automated License Plate Reading (ALPR) Technology
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council reviews and provides comments on a proposed capital improvement project whereby the Hayward Police Department would enter into a five-year purchase/service agreement with Axon Enterprises, Inc. to equip the patrol fleet with video dash cameras with integrated ALPR technology.
SUMMARY
In a continuing effort to broaden transparency, mitigate liability, advance investigative capabilities, and improve crime solvability, the Hayward Police Department is recommending purchasing and installing Axon Dash / ALPR cameras in fifty-three patrol vehicles.
BACKGROUND
In 2014, the Hayward Police Department purchased ALPR cameras for its patrol fleet. These systems from Motorola Solutions consisted of four externally mounted cameras (two forward-facing and two rear-facing) which were attached to the roofs of two patrol vehicles. These cameras were only capable of capturing license plate data and as of 2021, they reached the end of their serviceable lifespan. During their operational years, the ALPR camera systems averaged over a million license plate reads annually.
In fiscal year 2019, $150,000 was budgeted into CIP to purchase dash cameras for HPD’s patrol vehicles. (The project and related funds were suspended due to COVID fiscal impacts). Moving forward, dash camera technology has advanced to a point where a single front-facing camera can now not only capture video footage but can also capture vehicle license plate information.
DISCUSSION
The Hayward Police Department began its Body Worn Camera (BWC) program in 2015. BWC’s have proven to be an invaluable tool for law enforcement in documenting interactions with the community, investigating and prosecuting criminal behavior, and providing litigation protection for the city. Some limitations of BWCs are their inability to provide a stable overview of an incident and, based on the BWC’s positioning on officers (upper chest area), they are unable to capture officers’ observations while they are driving their patrol vehicles. BWCs are also prone to potential non-activation by an officer in dynamic, high-stress critical incidents.
Axon Fleet 3 system is made up of a front-facing dual-view camera that can record both video footage as well as capture images of license plates. These actions occur simultaneously. In addition, a second infrared camera is positioned inside the passenger compartment to provide coverage of the prisoner transport area. The camera system for video footage can be activated manually, or by up to ten triggering events such as activation of emergency lights, unlocking of less lethal or lethal weapons from the vehicle, reaching a certain vehicle speed, or upon the recognition that a collision has occurred. In addition, Fleet 3 cameras can be paired with officers’ current BWCs to allow their BWCs to be automatically activated upon the activation of the Fleet 3 cameras.
Video footage and license plate images, captured by the system, are wirelessly uploaded into Axon’s cloud-based storage accessed through “Evidence.com.” This is the same storage platform that HPD uses to store and manage BWC video footage. Axon’s storage platform is Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) certified. To receive this certification Axon must adhere to the FBI’s CJIS security policy, which provides a set of security requirements to protect and safeguard Criminal Justice Information (CJI) used by law enforcement.
The image captured in an ALPR scan, and stored by Axon, contains a picture of the license plate, the date and time of the scan, and the GPS location of the scan. No personally identifiable information is captured with the ALPR scan or stored in the database.
The ALPR camera not only records a vehicle’s location but can also alert officers, in real-time, if a scanned license plate has an associated want for the vehicle. This includes sex registrant information, statewide alerts such as “Amber Alerts” for abducted or endangered children, missing persons, vehicles used in felony crimes, stolen vehicles, and stolen license plates.
Axon has not built out the capability to grant access to ALPR data to other Law Enforcement Axon customers. If the capability is created in the future, HPD will have to grant each individual agency permission via a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Axon does not grant access to any unauthorized third parties. Pursuant to California Government Code Section 3, Chapter 17.25 (commencing with section 7284), federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies shall not use any non-criminal history information contained within the database for immigration enforcement purposes.
The records retention period of the scanned license plates is customizable through Axon. HPD currently retains license plate data for one year, unless the data is evidentiary in a criminal or civil action, as outlined in HPD’s ALPR Policy #429 (Attachment II).
Current regional police departments that have already invested in this technology are Livermore PD, Campbell PD, Tracy PD, Vacaville PD, Vallejo PD, and the Solano County Sheriff’s Office.
On April 11, 2022, this proposal was brought before the Chief’s Advisory Panel (CAP) for review and input. While there was overall support for the implementation of the program, the two areas of concern dealt with security and sharing of data. Those concerns were addressed by providing the CAP with the information sharing and security measures outlined in this Staff Report.
On April 27th, 2022, this proposal was brought before the Council Infrastructure Committee.
A discussion occurred regarding ACLU’s position on ALPR technology and the general capabilities and features of the fleet cameras. Committee recommendations included advocacy group outreach and a Council work session to enable further dialogue on the proposal.
In addition to the Fleet 3 camera system, staff are also recommending the purchase of an Auto-Tagging subscription for each officer. Currently, officers are required to label each one of their BWC recordings. The labeling process includes inputting an incident or report number, a “Title” for the recording such as a crime type or type of call for service, and a retention period based on the recording’s content. With the purchase of the Fleet 3 cameras, this would require officers to label two separate videos if both their Fleet 3 camera and BWC were used for an event. This is not only time-consuming but also increases the chances of the videos being mislabeled. Auto-Tagging syncs Evidence.com with HPD’s Computer Aided Dispatch system to auto-populate the incident or report number and category.
Community Engagement Efforts
As part of HPD’s ongoing efforts to be transparent, provide information, and engage community dialogue, the following steps have been taken:
As stated above, on April 11th, 2022, the proposal was presented to the CAP.
HPD made notification, via email, of the proposed project and our ALPR Policy to the following community groups:
The Community Advisory Panel (CAP) to the Chief of Police The Hayward Concerned Citizens
The Hayward Community Coalition
FISCAL IMPACT
As with the BWC agreement HPD signed with AXON in 2021, Axon spreads out the cost of the equipment and services over a five-year period. During this five-year period, all hardware components supplied are warrantied, and at the conclusion of contract, through Axon’s Technology Assurance Plan, all hardware components are upgraded and replaced at no cost. The annual costs, listed below, includes installation services for all fifty-three vehicles.
Payment
Fleet 3
Auto-Tagging
Tax
Total
Year 1
125,928
23,328
7,847.51
157,103.51
Year 2
125,928
23,328
7,847.51
157,103.51
Year 3
125,928
23,328
7,847.51
157,103.51
Year 4
125,928
23,328
7,847.51
157,103.51
Year 5
125,928
23,328
7,847.51
157,103.51
Total
629,640
116,640
39,237.55
785,517.55
Funding has been secured via CIP to cover nearly all the costs associated with year one of the agreement. Moving forward, HPD will request funding in CIP to cover the remaining four years of the agreement (FY’s 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026).
Due to current supply chain issues, implementation, if approved by Council, would take approximately eighteen months.
NEXT STEPS
HPD intended to use this Work Session to provide Council with a better understanding of the equipment and technology being sought by the Hayward Police Department. Following this Work Session, HPD will request the item go before City Council seeking approval for purchase.
Prepared by: William Deplitch, Police Captain
Recommended by: Toney Chaplin, Chief of Police
Approved by:
_____________________________________________
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager