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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Kristen Ziman, Police Chief
Alexander Alexandrou, Chief Management Officer
Richard Veenstra, Corporation Counsel
Martin Lyons, Chief Financial Officer, City Treasurer
Michael Pegues, Chief Information Officer
DATE: August 28, 2020
SUBJECT:
A Resolution regarding the implementation of officer-worn body cameras, supporting system and integration to existing systems for the City of Aurora Police Department.
PURPOSE:
This Resolution is requested to clearly establish the intent of the City of Aurora to move forward with the purchase/lease of a body camera system in an expeditious yet prudent fashion. The process for obtaining such a system will take into account citizen and council input regarding the purchasing process and implementation process as provided herein and attached.
BACKGROUND:
Body camera utilization has been a major consideration for transparent law enforcement for the City over the past three years. One of the major considerations/factors that delayed the implementation of the purchase of body cameras was the status and completion of the Hexagon/E911 and accompanying records system at the Aurora Police Department (APD). This system is scheduled for final completion at the end of 2020. Any such body camera system will need to integrate with this system and as such, purchasing a system prior to the completion of the Hexagon project could have resulted in major integration problems that in turn could result in decreased functionality or increased costs or both.
As was noted to the Finance Committee, APD, Finance, IT, and Administrative staff discussed the timing of the purchase of body cameras during the 2020 budget process (summer/fall of 2019) and confirmed the above concerns regarding integration with the Hexagon/E911 system. This resulted in a timeline to review specifications during 2020 for inclusion in the 2021 budget.
Nationwide issues regarding transparency in police enforcement has incre...
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