Fort Worth City Council Unanimously Approves $74 Million Police Technology Contract

Arlington TX

27 April, 2022

5:46 PM

Description

By Emily Wolf, Fort Worth Report April 26, 2022 The Fort Worth Police Department will spend $74.2 million during the next 12 years on tasers, body cameras, license plate readers and other equipment after the city council unanimously approved Tuesday a contract with Axon Enterprise. "This contract is really about being good tax stewards to our taxpayers, and also better transparency," Mayor Mattie Parker said. "And making sure all of our officers have the very best technology available to them to do a very difficult job." The contract will provide a number of technological advancements to the department, including video audit software designed to flag abuses of power by analyzing officers' body camera footage and increased license plate reading capabilities. Axon products the department currently uses include tasers, holsters, batteries, training materials, body cameras and vehicle cameras. Under the contract, the department will gain 16 new types of hardware and software, such as virtual reality use-of-force training and sensors to automatically turn on body cameras when a weapon is drawn. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.