To: Board of Supervisors
From: Monica Nino, County Administrator
Report Title: Contract with Axon Enterprise, Inc., for Evidence Management System
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Administrator or designee to execute, on behalf of the District Attorney, Public Defender, and Probation Departments, a contract with Axon Enterprise, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $5,920,977 to provide Axon’s Justice Premier and Evidence.com software, maintenance, and support for the period February 25, 2025 through June 30, 2035.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approval of this request will result in up to $5,920,977 in contractual service expenditures over a 10-year period and will be funded 100% from the General Fund allocations to the District Attorney, Public Defender, and Probation Departments. The contractual terms allow for fee increases by no more than 2% per annum for Axon Justice Premier and no annual increases for Evidence.com. The requested payment limit accounts for the annual fee increases as well as $100,000 contingency for necessary change orders over the contract period.
BACKGROUND:
The County’s justice partners - the District Attorney, Public Defender and Probation departments -require an evidence management system to securely store, organize, and access crucial evidence in criminal investigations, ensuring the integrity of the chain of custody, facilitating collaboration and discovery between agencies, and ultimately supporting successful prosecutions by providing a centralized and compliant method for managing all evidence types, from physical items to digital files, while maintaining legal compliance with access controls and audit trails.
Following a competitive solicitation, the justice partners have selected Axon Enterprise, Inc. (Axon) systems, which provide management, storage and sharing of the County’s digital evidence (body-worn video, in-car video, interview room video, CCTV video, photographs, audio, documents, etc.), management and streamlining of the discovery process, unlimited automatic transcription of audio/video files for fast review, third-party video playback, and comprehensive security and audit trails.
Axon’s systems are used throughout California and Contra Costa County. The Office of the Sheriff has been contracting with Axon since November 2022 to provide body-worn cameras, in-car cameras, and evidence storage. Sixteen California counties as well as 19 law enforcement agencies within Contra Costa cities contract with Axon for evidence management and other related services. Access to Axon’s Justice Premier and Evidence.com software over the requested 10-year period will secure integrated law and justice automation and technology efficiencies within our County departments, while also providing evidence sharing tools with all user law enforcement agencies statewide.
Under the terms of the agreement, Axon’s liability is limited to the amount paid by County in the twelve months preceding the claim, except with respect to a breach of County data, which is limited to $5,000,000. The County may terminate the agreement only for an uncured breach by Axon or the board of supervisors’ failure to appropriate funds for amounts due under the agreement.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
A negative action by the Board would result in a forfeit discounted pricing offered by Axon and deprive the County’s justice departments of necessary tools to prosecute cases effectively in today’s technology-based environment and could lead to the loss of critical evidence vital to the prosecution of potential serious and violent offenders, further endangering victims and the community.