Tumwater Police Department selects vendor for body cameras 

The Tumwater Police Department selected Axon, a public safety technology company, to supply it with body worn cameras.

The decision was announced by Deputy Chief Carlos Quiles Jr.  at a meeting of the Tumwater City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

Should a contract with the company be finalized by the end of the year, training could begin in spring. 

Quiles said the department  is proposing to buy 48 body worn cameras, which would be replaced with an updated version every 30 months.

The department also plans to buy 29 in-car cameras to replace its existing in-car camera system, so it uses a unified system. The in-car cameras would be replaced with an updated version every five years. 

According to Quiles, Axon’s cameras come with real-time translation that supports more than 50 languages. It also comes with redaction assistance tools that would reduce the time needed for staff to process footage during a disclosure request. 

Should a community member want to submit videos from their own surveillance cameras as evidence, the system also has a feature allowing people to directly share videos so that officers don’t have to make a personal visit. 

In choosing the vendor for the project, Quiles said compatibility with the camera system of neighboring jurisdictions was very important. 

Olympia, Lacey and the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office are using Axon, while the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's  Office is also familiar with the system. 

Axon’s presence in the county has to do with the company having a state-endorsed contract, but Quiles said the department selected Axon primarily for the ease of use. 

While the deal is being finalized, Quiles said staff are also currently drafting a policy for how the cameras will be used, while discussions with the police union on how it would impact them are also underway.  

The department aims to complete the policy and new union agreement by the end of the year.