The Buckeye Police Department will upgrade its technology ecosystem to a single, unifying platform hosted by Motorola Solutions Inc. The five-year lease-purchase agreement integrates body cameras, radios, in-car cameras, a real-time information hub, digital evidence management and a community portal.
Because BPD's current contract with Axon was expiring, Chief Bob Sanders told Buckeye City Council at its regular meeting on Dec. 16 that the department had begun researching more comprehensive and cost-effective options for its technology systems.
“We wanted to make sure, No. 1, we were protecting our citizens, the safety of the community, safety of our officers, operational efficiency and was there an opportunity for fiscal responsibility?” Sanders said. “Could we do something to save the city money and also lay us a foundation to move us into the future? So that’s how we got here tonight: A lot of research and a lot of time and effort.”
Deputy Chief Charles Bezio said one of the difficulties of the current system is that it requires more devices to complete the same functions. Additionally, the current system does not link all data together on its own, often requiring BPD to seek additional vendors to fill the gaps. Motorola's platform provides a significantly higher level of integration with all devices hosted under one system.
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Key advantages of the new system, according to Bezio, are its single vendor integration with all systems being available on one platform; the AI automation features such as report drafting and transcription; real-time tracking and automatic evidence tagging; upgraded radio systems; and community involvement through the CommandCentral Community Portal allowing for public video submissions, crime maps and more.
“We selected Motorola as being a more comprehensive package as a technology platform best suited for the Buckeye Police Department,” said Bezio.
The $5.34 million, five-year contract includes the following:
- 175 APX Next radios: Each radio includes a GPS location system, and can be used as a radio or cellular device. The radios will be installed in all patrol, traffic service and transportation vehicles.
- 175 SVX body cameras with video remote speaker microphones: This eliminates the need for two devices providing camera and microphone functions. The cameras also include a language translation function to aid in communicating with citizens in real time. The cameras automatically run drivers licenses in real time and provide alerts to officers.
- 90 M500 in-car video systems: Three cameras will be installed in each vehicle, with one at the front of the vehicle, one at the back of the vehicle and one in the cab. The cameras will run license plates in real time and provide alerts to officers. A wireless router automatically uploads videos into a Motorola-hosted cloud.
- The CommandCentral Suite:
- CommandCentral Aware Plus: A real-time information center hub that collects all data from multiple sources into one location.
- CommandCentral DEMS Plus: A digital evidence management system that provides AI-assisted redaction and can offer rough draft reports for officers to edit.
- CommandCentral Community Portal: A portal that can be accessed by community members with engagement features including crime mapping, tip submission and public information notices.
- Flex Computer Aided Dispatch Subscription Suite: A cloud-based subscription service with improved storage capacity.
In a cost comparison for a five-year contract between the providers, Motorola’s contract of $5.33 million was $933,415 less than the current service provider, with an average annual cost of $1,066,984.
“Motorola Unified Platform enhances officer safety, operational awareness, community trust,” Bezio said. “Our recommendation is to approve the Motorola Solutions contract to become the foundational ecosystem vendor for the Buckeye Police Department.”
City Council approved the upgrade unanimously.
“I can see it is an exceptional value and not only that, it’s much less expensive,” Mayor Eric Orsborn said. “So good on you all for all the homework you’ve done on this.”
Additional information on the new system can be found in city documents HERE.
