The Overland Park Police Department is about to get a multimillion-dollar technology overhaul, including new body cameras and drones.
The new technology from Axon Enterprise will replace many of the police department’s independent programs with an integrated platform that department officials say will be more efficient and easier to use for evidence management, data storage and other functions.
In addition to software, the department will also get new body cameras and other digital recording devices, tasers, training, drones and more.
Police Chief Doreen Jokerst, who has used Axon technologies before at other departments, told the Overland Park City Council Public Safety Committee last Wednesday that she expects the equipment and technology “will drastically change policing within our department.”
On Monday, the Overland Park City Council voted 9-0 to approve the 10-year, $22.4 million equipment and software purchase agreement with Axon Enterprise, Inc. The action formally waived the normal purchasing process, bypassing a bid and instead buying directly from Axon.
Councilmember Melissa Cheatham, who chairs the city’s public safety committee, said the new technology and equipment will “improve outcomes” as well as “bring more transparency” to policing in Overland Park. She also called it “innovative.”
Other councilmembers have been similarly supportive of the Axon purchase.
“I can’t imagine that this would not save lives, both first responders and/or people in the community,” Councilmember Jeff Cox said last week of the purchase agreement. “It’s such a total no-brainer to me.”
Mayor Curt Skoog and Councilmembers Logan Heley, Jim Kite and Scott Mosher were absent from the meeting.
What all is OPPD getting from Axon?
The full purchase of what Police Maj. Richard Breshears called Axon’s “connected ecosystem” comes with a total cost of $22.4 million over 10 years, or roughly $2.2 million per year. Money for that price tag comes from the city’s capital improvement program and technology maintenance funds.
(According to city documents, the full system usually costs $40.6 million, but Overland Park Police is getting it for roughly 45% off.)
That cost will cover the purchase of equipment, including:
- Drones, which establish a Drones as a First Responder program in Overland Park, similar to ones already employed in other Johnson County cities
- Upgraded tasers
- New body-worn cameras with GPS and controlled live-streaming capabilities
- New in-car cameras
- New and additional interview room cameras
- Sensors that trigger automatic body camera recordings whenever an officer pulls their firearm
It also covers the cost of technology and software, like:
- A new record and evidence management system
- Assisted migration of all existing Overland Park Police digital documents, files, etc. to the Axon platform
- Unlimited Axon cloud storage
- FUSUS software, a real-time operations platform compatible with Axon devices
- Virtual reality training
- A smartphone app for uploading photos and other digital evidence directly into the Axon platform
- Professional standards monitoring and tracking software
- A community engagement portal, with request for information from the public and feedback capabilities, as well as transparency tools
All of these devices, technology and software will be compatible and share a common platform. Currently, the department utilizes multiple devices and platforms for its data and records, which do not work together like the Axon system, Maj. Breshears told the committee last week.
Breshears said it will replace “the majority” of the police department’s systems, and pointed out that Overland Park Police is the first law enforcement agency in the Kansas City metro to deploy a fully integrated system like this.
“It’s more efficient; I don’t have to go fishing for data across multiple different platforms,” he said about the Axon system. “It’s enhancing the emergency response.”
Councilmember Gregg Riess agreed.
“This isn’t about buying shiny new tools,” he told the Post in a written statement. “It’s about building trust, improving safety and using taxpayer dollars wisely.”
Additionally, the Axon purchase puts the Overland Park Police Department in the AI Era Leaders Plan, a program that allows it to try out and test any AI tools or software the company might deploy, like an automatic video review that can flag certain behavior for further human review or a program that helps draft police reports.
Overland Park Police mulling new, updated policies as well
Earlier this year, as the department was still looking at options for new body cameras, Chief Jokerst said officials were also pondering updates to the policies about these kinds of recording devices.
Overland Park Police currently has a 10-page policy on audio and video recordings that governs how the devices should be used and maintained, as well as how the resulting files should be labeled, stored, reviewed and shown to members of the public.
Last week, Jokerst said the department hopes to roll out these policy updates to audio and video recordings early next year, and the committee has requested a presentation on the changes as well.
Jokerst also said Overland Park Police Department officials are preparing new policies related to drone use and another related to AI, since the Axon purchase opens the door to these tools. The department currently lacks such policies.
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