LAPD Becomes Largest US Police Department to Outfit Officers With AXON Body Cameras and EVIDENCE.com by TASER
SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/17/14 -- TASER International (NASDAQ: TASR) today announced the purchase of 860 AXON body-worn video cameras and a five-year subscription to EVIDENCE.com by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Los AngelesMayor Eric Garcetti further announced a plan by the city to equip a total of 7,000 officers with body cameras in 2015.
With this announcement, TASER is launching a new EVIDENCE.com service plan called the "Officer Safety Plan" which was developed in close collaboration with the LAPD. The Officer Safety Plan includes all of the advanced features of EVIDENCE.com, unlimited storage, a service plan that includes automatic upgrades of the AXON Cameras every 2.5 years and upgrades of the associated TASER devices every 5 years, as well as full hardware equipment warranties and service (see details below). The LAPD has selected the Officer Safety Plan as their subscription plan to EVIDENCE.com to maximize budget predictability and minimize total cost across both product suites.
"The Los Angeles Police Department continues to be a technology leader in law enforcement," said Los Angeles Police Department Chief of Police Charlie Beck. "Today, we are announcing a new program designed to provide maximum safety to our officers and the community we serve, while bringing a new level of trust and transparency to police work. In 2015, we will begin issuing wearable cameras to front line officers to increase transparency and to document the good work our officers do every day. It is our goal to make these important tools available to every front line officer over the next few years."
"We're thrilled that the Los Angeles Police Department has selected us to support them in this monumental step for their agency," says Rick Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of TASER International. "Given its size and world-wide recognition as a technology leader, the Los Angeles Police Department has unique logistical needs. We collaborated closely with LAPD to create our new Officer Safety Plan to help serve agencies that want to have complete predictability of the costs of their on-officer video and TASER programs in one simple plan. We consider ourselves a long-term partner and want to ensure that our customers are successful in getting their officers equipped with our body cameras without the concern of managing variable data storage costs in the future."
This order was announced yesterday by the Mayor of Los Angeles at a press conference, along with intention to budget for a total of approximately 7,000 cameras in the next budget year to equip all front line LAPD officers. The order for the first 860 units is expected in the fourth quarter of 2014 and is expected to ship in the first half of 2015. Revenue will be recognized over the five-year term of the program.
About the Officer Safety Plan:
The Officer Safety Plan on EVIDENCE.com offers unlimited storage for data uploaded from AXON cameras and EVIDENCE Mobile as well as the added benefit of an agency being able to upgrade their Conducted Electrical Weapon (CEW) to a TASER Smart Weapon, or to deploy TASER Smart Weapons if they do not already have TASER CEWs. The Officer Safety Plan costs $99 per user per month and is offered with a five-year contract. The Officer Safety Plan entitles the user to the following:
- All features on EVIDENCE.com
- Two camera upgrades during contract term of five years
- Unlimited storage of data captured using AXON cameras or EVIDENCE Mobile apps on smartphones and tablets
- An upgrade or replacement of your existing TASER CEW at any point over the five-year contract
About AXON Cameras
TASER's AXON cameras are small, yet highly visible, and can be attached securely to sunglasses, a cap, a shirt collar, or a head mount. They are powered by a pocket-sized battery pack, which ensures recording capability during an entire shift. When recording, the cameras capture a wide-angle, full-color view of what an officer is facing. The video automatically uploads via a docking station to EVIDENCE.com, a cloud-based storage and management system, where it can be easily accessed for review. The video files stored online or on the AXON video camera are secure and cannot be tampered with.
About EVIDENCE.com
EVIDENCE.com helps police capture, manage, and share their digital evidence without the complexity or cost of installing in-house servers. It enables greater transparency through seamless integration with the industry-leading AXON body-worn video cameras. EVIDENCE.com is the most secure, scalable, and cost-effective solution for managing all types of digital evidence. EVIDENCE.com automates the upload process to ensure security and integrity while keeping officers in the field rather than sitting at computers.
A year-long Cambridge University study conducted at the Rialto, CA Police Department investigated whether officers' use of video cameras could bring measurable benefits to relations between police and civilians. The results showed an 88% reduction in citizen complaints and a 60% reduction in uses of force after implementation of TASER's AXON flex cameras. In a study by Arizona State University, the Mesa Police Department's use of AXON cameras revealed a 48% reduction in citizen complaints against camera officers for misconduct during the study period, and a 75% decline in use of force complaints. When complaints were brought to Mesa PD, they were resolved quickly due to the accessibility of video evidence.
About The Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department serving the city of Los Angeles, California. With 9,843 officers and 2,773 civilian staff, it is the third-largest non-federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The department serves an area of 498 square miles and a population of 3,884,307 people.
About TASER International, Inc.
TASER International makes communities safer with innovative public safety technologies. Founded in 1993, TASER first transformed law enforcement with its electrical weapons. TASER continues to define smarter policing with its growing suite of technology solutions, including AXON body-worn video cameras and EVIDENCE.com, a secure digital evidence management platform. More than 138,000 lives and countless dollars have been saved with TASER's products and services.
Learn more at www.TASER.com and www.EVIDENCE.com or by calling (800) 978-2737.
TASER® is a registered trademark of TASER International, Inc., registered in the U.S. All rights reserved. TASER logo and AXON are trademarks of TASER International, Inc.
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Source: TASER International
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