Decatur Renews Axon Body Camera Deal for 10 Years

The city chose a 10-year contract option over a five-year plan, which is projected to save about $77,000.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Law Enforcement

Decatur Renews Axon Body Camera Deal for 10 Years

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The Decatur Police Department selected a 10-year contract renewal with Axon for police-worn body cameras and video storage after the Decatur City Council authorized Police Chief Steve Grizzle to pursue the option. The five-year Axon contract is set to expire in January.

Why it matters

Evidence from body cameras must be retained for years, and switching providers would require moving stored footage or building a costly in-house data center. Locking in the 10-year rate also fixes annual costs for a decade.

Police Chief Steve Grizzle presented the two options to the Decatur City Council at its Oct. 12 meeting, and the council authorized him to pursue the 10-year option. The formal execution of the contract has not been reported.

The players

Axon

Axon is an Arizona-based company that makes police body cameras, Tasers and cloud evidence management software.

Steve Grizzle

Steve Grizzle is the police chief of the Decatur Police Department, who presented the contract options to city officials.

The details

Axon suggested the 10-year contract, and Decatur's camera footage is uploaded to evidence.com, which is stored in the cloud. Axon keeps the department's officers equipped with the most up-to-date cameras at no extra cost under the agreement.

Oct. 12: Grizzle presented contract options to the Decatur City Council.
January 2027: Axon's current five-year contract with Decatur is set to expire.

Legal Context

Body camera footage is evidence that must be retained for years, which makes switching vendors costly once a department is built around Axon's evidence.com cloud platform. Locking in a decade-long rate shifts that cost risk into the present budget cycle.

Residents will see a fixed annual cost of about $17,844 for body cameras and footage storage over the next decade rather than a rate that could rise with inflation. The contract does not change how officers use the cameras in the stub.

The takeaway

Long-term technology contracts can lock in lower annual costs, but they also commit a city to a single vendor for years. Residents interested in local spending can review council agendas for the contract terms.