Sources: “San Mateo rushed into a bad Axon deal”

“This is a very generous offer by Axon”

“One of my concerns with Axon are the ongoing price increases”

“They lure you in with the initial contract and sweeteners.”

“That they won't be back in another six months saying that this technology is now antiquated and they need more.”

“One of my concerns with Axon are the ongoing price increases that happen as new technology is acquired, as changes are made to these subscription services. And within one year, we've already seen that happening.”

“I would like to know which are these just increased prices on what we already have and what are new products.”

“The spend has increased over time and that's because I believe that Axon has increased the amount of services that they provide with their product offering.”

“Less than one year and 10 months ago, we entered into a five-year contract for TASERS. They have a five-year lifespan for 1,400 TASERS for a total of $6.5 million. Today, we have MNPD requesting more, newer, and better TASERS with a hefty price tag of $18.3 million.”

“And there is no guarantee that if you pass this, that they won't be back in another six months saying that this technology is now antiquated and they need more.”

“This is an industry trend with Axon. They lure you in with the initial contract and sweeteners. And then on the back end, the data storage is where they really make their money.”

“One concern I have that I just have to give voice to is platform dependence. And it's not clear to me how competitive this market is.”

“This is a very generous offer by Axon and I don't know how long it would be on the table.”

“Deputy Mayor Fernandez? Yes. Councilmember Cwirko-Godycki? Yes. Councilmember Diaz Nash? Yes. Councilmember Newsom? Yes. Mayor Loraine? No. Motion carries.”

“So two weeks ago you approved the Axon camera deal and I just wanted to clarify some things that you were told versus what's on the record.”

“We had been negotiating with them for a long time to get to this point. And they are not making this offer to everyone.”

“Axon advised the police department of a new pricing model that they were implementing to all new customers and contract renewals.”

“Agreement includes a no-cost pilot of Axon's fixed ALPR solutions through June of 2027. If the pilot is successful, the first payment of $120,000 will be due in June of 2027.”

“That's why we are piloting this trial with Axon at no cost to the city of Tempe taxpayer.”

“As you know, Axon is a primary system we use with body cams, evidence, and a handful of other softwares in the building. So we'd be looking at their LPR cameras to help consolidate systems.”

“Leader pricing is what they call it where you either get 20 off every year or you get your first year free”

“The cost of year one is deferred”

“Based on actual installation timing of the proposed first year payment will occur in fiscal year of 2028.”

“Mayor is a tough negotiator we got a very good price on this”

“It will not change the contract. They threw that in for the price it was already agreed to.”

“In total, Axon has applied more than $75,000 in discounts to this proposal.”

“So we're not going to renew our flock contract in 2027. We're going to transition to Axon, which is a longstanding partner.”

“And put the license plate readers under the same bundled contract.”

“The proposed agreement extends through 2036 and incorporates additional products and services, the drones, the outposts, and the VR systems.”

“They have other folks ahead of us in line, essentially. There are other communities in the Bay Area that are signing on to their platform. So we basically fall in line with.”

“They are trying to offer this for free. It's almost like a sales pitch, pretty much. That is my understanding.”

“Are you actually seeing folks rip and replace hardware to essentially install Outpost”

“We absolutely are.”

“It's a new sensor in this broader ecosystem you can run ai on it at the edge you uh you have immediate utility from the plate reads um and it fits in this broader play with axon vision”

“One of the fun things about talking about Prepared and Carbyne and, you know, Outpost is that these are all things that are not called out in our revenue commentary because they're still immaterial to our revenue in this quarter. So we did 34% growth without any of these, and these are amazing drivers to support our long-term growth in our future.”

“It serves customers well to get in early. And, you know, the longer you wait, the more the sum of the parts adds up.”

“The chief also said that they are not making this offer to everyone. In June, Daly City approved a no-cost pilot of Axon's cameras, and I found 35 other agencies across the country who have similar Axon camera deals.”

“And many of them had more free cameras and a really free trial.”

“I'm frankly very concerned that they have other places to go should we not look to this as an opportunity.”

“So I'm just going to humbly move that we consider tabling this for a month or longer with the idea that we would like to have at least one town hall meeting before we engage in this.”

“Even one month, do you think, would be too long to wait? We've been negotiating with them for some time. I think it would be difficult. I can't give you a definite answer. I mean, they're running a business. I understand that. I don't know. I don't know whether we'd be back in front of you again.”

“I reviewed the quote history for the contract and found that there were multiple deadlines, June, September, October. Each time, Axon sent a new version of the quote with a later deadline. The price never went up.”

“This causes them to feel something called anticipatory regret. If we do not take this deal today, we will have FOMO and we will lose this amazing deal.”

“So there will be no cost for the Axon system throughout the life of the Flock contract.”

“But the quote on paper charges for 40 cameras every month starting November 15th of this year. Only five are free. Kennewick got 40 free cameras. And the only difference is the payments for those cameras are deferred to 2028.”

“I mean, it's not very often that we get someone who's willing to provide a service for such an extended period of time at no cost.”

“I think the contract is open-ended, so we have a full year to decide whether we're going to pursue it. Based on that, I would recommend that we don't lose the opportunity.”

“It is a fixed 98 month contract to January 2035. The only way out without paying for the hardware is to give notice by this next September. If we wait a day past that, we are paying from this coming November, you know, from a few weeks from now.”

“And then have a check-in to get the assessment from the police department on Axon before the expiration of the contract. Just to clarify, I think before the expiration of this trial period. The pilot period, yes.”

“The approval motion called it a trial and a pilot and Axon's contract does have a block that talks about trials, but we did not use that portion. We just signed up for this thing with the five free cameras and delayed first payment.”

“What would we gain from revisiting this in six to eight months?”

“It would not exceed one year and if I had to throw out a guess, I'd throw it out somewhere between the six and nine month range to get a good sample size of whether or not we see an advantage to one system over the other.”

“The proposed Axon agreement does not expand our existing technology footprint.”

“So the more features we add, you should expect that to be reflected in the price as we revise it each year.”

“Axon Vision is new. You didn't know about it when you signed your contract. Frankly, maybe we didn't either, but you're going to get it if you're on that plane.”

“And so we rushed into a contract last year, $27 million contract, only $2 million covered by grants, $25 million coming from local city dollars. Now we're asked to increase the contract again this year.”

“Item number 13, Axon Master Services and Purchasing Agreement approval.”

“So is there a motion from council to approve the consent calendar minus 18, 19, and 25? So moved. Second. Thank you. City Clerk, could you please call the roll? Certainly. Council Member Loraine? Yes. Deputy Mayor Newsom? Yes. Council Member Hedges? Yes. Council Member Lee? Yes. Mayor Diaz Nash? Yes. Motion carries 5-0.”

“Deputy Mayor Fernandez? Yes. Councilmember Cwirko-Godycki? Yes. Councilmember Diaz Nash? Yes. Councilmember Newsom? Yes. Mayor Loraine? No. Motion carries.”