City Council

CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS City Council Special Joint Workshop Saint Anthony Village City Hall Council Chambers 3301 Silver Lake Rd NE St. Anthony, MN 55418 AGENDA Thursday, October 23, 2025 6:00 P.M. A. CALL TO ORDER: B. ROLL CALL: GUSTAFSON____ LEEHY___ MEYER ___ MIELKE___ WASSENBERG___ STAFF PRESENT: LINEHAN___ C. POLICY ITEMS: 1. Joint meeting with the St. Anthony Village and Lauderdale City Councils a. Police Department Body Camera System Replacement b. Open Discussion D. ADJOURNMENT: DISCLAIMER: City Council Workshops are held monthly as an opportunity for Council Members to discuss policy topics in greater detail prior to a formal meeting where a public hearing may be held and/or action may be taken. Members of the public that would like to make a comment or ask questions about an item on the agenda for an upcoming workshop should send them to mail@falconheights.org prior to the meeting. Alternatively, time is regularly allotted for public comment during Regular City Council Meetings (typically 2nd and 4th Wednesdays) during the Community Forum. 1 BLANK PAGE 2  REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Meeting Date October 23, 2025 Agenda Item C1 Attachment Presentation from Chief Spiess Submitted By Jack Linehan, City Administrator Item Joint Discussion with St. Anthony Village and Lauderdale City Councils Description The SAPD bodyworn cameras are coming to end of life and need replacement. Chief Spiess will present to the three city councils the considerations for replacement. Additionally, this will be an opportunity for the three city councils to engage and discuss the joint partnership for police services. Budget Impact TBD Attachment(s) • Presentation on Bodyworn Camera Replacement Action(s) Staff recommends that the City Council meet with the other councils and hear the Requested presentation. City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ 3 VIDEO RECORDING SYSTEM OCTOBER 23, 2025 Jeff Spiess, Police Chief VENDOR SELECTION Jesse Richardson, Senior Computer Support Analyst, Metro INet 4 HISTORY 2011 2018 2026 Squad Cameras - Body Cameras and Current Panasonic Panasonic Facility Cameras - Software – End of Panasonic Life 5 WHY PANASONIC WAS CHOSEN IN 2018 Industry leader at the time • Current squad car cameras are Panasonic • Partnered with Roseville PD in Federal Grant • Allowed storage on internal server operated by Metro INET • Consortium of PD’s opted for Panasonic 6 CHALLENGES WITH CURRENT CAMERA Panasonic > Arbitrator > Pro Squad Upfitter Unfamiliarity with Installation • Largely unsupported and not progressing • Significant Squad Downtime • No Redaction • Metro INET diagnostic time • No Video Sharing Capabilities: Considerable • Software and Hardware unreliable wasted office personnel time • UEMS Software end of life 2026 • UDE Software set to replace UEMS Software • UDE = poor quality, more expensive, unsupported by METRO INET 7 INDUSTRY CHANGES Technology Trends • Subscription based • Cloud Storage • Enhanced data sharing and investigative tools • Community camera registration programs • Video recall feature 8 VENDOR OPTIONS Axon Motorola 9 VENDOR: AXON Benefits • Industry standard: 85% of the market share • Familiarity among squad builders = less squad down time • Familiarity among lateral officers • Hardware refresh every 2½ years (sooner if a new product becomes available) • History of reliability 10 VENDOR: MOTOROLA Benefits • Lower annual cost • Squad video camera system independent of laptop computer • Similar operating systems compared to Axon • Local Customer service • ALPR Investigative Features 11 COST COMPARISON Panasonic / Arbitrator New Vendor Local server space Five-year contract 2025 = $14,025 2026 = $27,939 Cost range depending on vendor and * UDE platform total server cost $46,429 BUT not products: supported by Metro INet $399,999 - $515,000 $79,999 - $103,000 annually* *Shared proportionally based on shared services contract. 12 NEXT STEPS Vendor Selection • Video migration from current server to cloud storage • Train officers • Up fit squad cars and police department • Issue body cameras 13 EFFECTIVE. TRANSPARENT. ACCOUNTABLE 21ST Century Policing and our Communities expect transparency and accountability. Using the technological advances in police squad and body cameras, we can accomplish this goal. Are we comfortable absorbing the costs to not only maintain our level of transparency and accountability, but also advance it for the benefit of our communities? 14 CONSIDERATIONS Are Councils comfortable absorbing significant annual cost? Cost is not the only factor • Reliability is everything • Cameras must work every time • During a critical incident, if cameras fail to activate, there will be no grace and understanding from the public 15 THANK YOU Questions? 16