Recommend approval of a contract with COBAN for $25,915.92 for four in-car video systems to be used by the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department to fulfill the recommended law enforcement requirement of properly transporting arrestees in a transport wagon. This contract includes licensing for three years.

The Patrol Division currently utilizes four transport wagons for arrestee transportation. While each wagon contains a video system, those system are antiquated and no longer manufactured. Storage capacity is limited, and staff must use a third-party vendor to retrieve video from the system. 

The COBAN system is the same system used in SCMPD's Traffic Enforcement vehicles, and automatically uploads video to a City server, where they are accessible to SCMPD personnel. 

Nationally in recent years there have been a number of high-profile incidents involving arrestees injured during transport by police. Should a tragic incident occur during the transport of an arrestee, video of the arrestee would likely play an instrumental role during the ensuing investigation. 

Funding will come from the Condemned Assets Fund. This is a sole source because it will be an expansion to existing equipment available only from this source.

Approval