Axon, a Seattle-based business unit of Taser International, says it has landed a $28 million contract to provide body cameras for all front-line officers at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Axon will make 6,140 body cameras for the LAPD. Officers will also get subscriptions to Axon’s digital evidence storage platform, body camera upgrades every two-and-a-half years and Taser smart weapon upgrades every five years.
The rollout will begin in the third quarter, and all devices should be shipped next year.
LAPD already has 860 cameras purchased through private donations, according to The Los Angeles Times. LAPD has a total of 9,843 officers and 2,773 civilian staff.
Taser says more than 3,500 agencies have purchased Axon’s body cameras, and more than 18,000 have Taser smart weapons.
An increased emphasis on officer conduct has led to more demand for body cameras. As a result, Axon is growing fast. Its Seattle office opened three years ago with five employees, and now 80 people work there, with another 35 open positions, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.
The Seattle Police Department is working on a policy to outfit uniformed officers with body cameras. The city received $600,000 in federal funding to help pay for the program. Seattle PD last year completed a six-month pilot program focused on body cameras.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray told KOMO news earlier this week that he would like to see officers with body cameras by the end of the year.
