The Chattanooga Police Department is set to request approval from the City Council on a contract worth up to $15 million over five years for police technology. Exactly what technology the city plans to purchase under the contract is yet to be determined, officials said.
A proposal from vendor Axon Enterprise includes AI-assisted identification technology capable of tracking cars and people based on their appearance. Elisa Myzal, a spokesperson for the department, said the department hasn’t committed at this time to purchasing anything specific from Axon under the agreement.
Instead, Myzal said, the contract gives the Police Department the opportunity to buy certain tech from Axon in the future, with an annual cap of $3 million a year. She said all products listed in the contract were proposed by Axon, and the department was under no obligation to purchase any of them.
The department will vet any technology before it is implemented, and no decision has been made in favor of or against the products Axon is proposing in the contract, the department said in an emailed statement.
“Once we have a better understanding of this piece of technology, we will work in accordance with our department policy to collaborate with the community and our elected officials to determine if and how it is utilized,” the statement read.