$10.6M invested in AI-powered police body cams, drones, tech in Kennewick
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- Kennewick council approved a $10.6M, 10-year Axon contract for police tech.
- New gear includes AI report drafting, smarter body cams, drones and TASER 10s.
- The police chief promised transparency around the technology use.
It’s not quite at RoboCop or Knight Rider levels, but Kennewick police will get a big technology upgrade in the new year.
An amended 10-year, $10.6 million contract with Axon Enterprises means the department will have access to a whole new slate of law enforcement technology.
That includes
- New Taser 10 weapons and virtual reality training
- AI-powered report drafting, language translation technologies, and body and fleet cameraslivestream camera access technology
- Enhanced public records management
- U.S.-made drone and de-drone technology
Police Chief Chris Guerrero said the contract amendment is “probably the biggest advancement that I’ve seen for public safety, officer safety and public engagement” in his 29-year tenure.
The chief said he understands citizens’ privacy concerns surrounding advanced surveillance technology, and the city’s use of automatic license plate readers. Mayor Gretl Crawford and Councilman Loren Anderson both expressed hesitation.
But Guerrero also promised transparency to the city council and public about how the new technology is used.
“We understand the concern with Big Brother: Who’s watching what and why. That is not our practice,” Guerrero said at a Nov. 25 city council study session. He referenced Flock Safety, the automatic license plate technology that has been in the news for its access by federal immigration enforcement.
“We don’t go and just randomly search vehicles. The way it works, and the way we’ve utilized all of this technology, is based on key, specific information — we have an active investigation — and that is exactly how these things would be utilized... We’re not just tracking random people,” he continued.
The city council unanimously, 7-0, approved the contract amendment his week. The department will begin rolling out the new technology in January with the deployment of smarter body cameras and Tasers with a 45-foot reach. A new “real time information center” will track video feeds and information from cameras and drones during dispatch calls.
The following year, in 2027, Guerrero says they will begin a campaign to “connect Kennewick” by providing partner governments and businesses with cameras the department would be able to access in real-time during crimes.
The city’s previous 2021-26 contract with Axon included access to a cloud-based digital evidence platform, Taser 7s, body and fleet cameras, and redaction software. Axon is the Scottsdale-based company known for the widely used electroshock weapon.
Guerrero said the company’s Draft One technology will be the biggest time saver for officers. It uses artificial intelligence technology to summarize body-worn audio recordings, but officers will be required to review and edit the report before submission.
“This is not generative AI,” Guerrero said. “So, this is AI that’s captured only within that crime, only within our sandbox. This is not grabbing info from the web. It’s not doing any of that. It is only specific to our arena.”
Data on most of the technology is retained for only 30 days, unless it’s part of an open investigation, Guerrero said.
Kennewick’s Axon contract will be paid for by about $1 million annually from a portion of its Capital Improvement Program, as well as with leftover American Rescue Plan Act money in 2026.
Revenues in the capital improvement program were freed up after the city council created a transportation benefit district to increase its sales tax this year and pay for pavement improvements.
