Contract approved for new body cameras for Fresno Police Department

The Fresno City Council is moving forward with a contract to supply the Fresno Police Department with new body cameras.

The $18 million, five-year contract with Axon Enterprises passed unanimously at Thursday's meeting.

During the meeting, there was some discussion about how the contract was written and a provision for an automatic renewal.

Interim Police Chief Mindy Casto spoke about the department's partnership with the company.

"We have 556 cameras that we pay for as we expanded," she said. "They allowed us, without going under a new contract, to have about 100 new cameras. We've been using them free of charge, and now the time has come to square up with them and actually purchase cameras for expansion and pay for what we've actually been using."

In addition to the camera equipment, the contract covers data storage, a records management system, software upgrades and maintenance.