The Falmouth Town Council is considering a 10-year contract with Axon, a law enforcement technology company that is already supplying Falmouth police with equipment such as body cameras, Tasers and software that automatically reads license plates.

The proposed contract would also effectively end the town’s contract with Flock Safety, which provides Falmouth with four stationary cameras that use artificial intelligence to read license plates, and replace them with Axon cameras.

The Falmouth Police Department has worked with Axon for five years to supply the town’s 22 officers with body cameras, cameras for their marked vehicles, automated license plate reader technology for the cruiser cameras and evidence storage software. Falmouth police have carried Axon Tasers since 2011 and acquired an Axon drone this past year.

Over these five or so years, most of this equipment has come to be considered standard in most police departments, said Deputy Chief Jeffrey Pardue. However, paying for it would largely be new for Falmouth.

Since 2022, Falmouth police’s Tasers, body cameras and vehicle cameras have been funded by an anonymous $300,000 donation. As the money has run out, this year the town paid about $62,000 for police equipment with capital improvement project funds.

Fiscal year 2027, starting in June, is the final year of the town’s five-year Axon contract. The decade-long proposed contract would take over and start on July 1 if approved by the council. The contract would cost Falmouth $140,000 annually, though it would pay $68,000 the first year, as the municipal budget is already set.

Presenting the contract proposal to the Town Council on May 11, Pardue recommended the town sign a 10-year contract with the company, as opposed to an annual or five-year contract, as the locked pricing would likely result in savings and create a predictable line in the town’s budget.

Axon would upgrade officers’ equipment at regular intervals over the course of the contract, said Pardue.

Under the new Axon contract, the town’s Flock cameras would be replaced with mounted Axon cameras, which also use automated license plate reader technology. Axon’s license plate reading software has been installed in the department’s police cruiser cameras since 2023 and would continue under the proposed contract.

Currently, Falmouth has four Flock cameras on Gray Road and Route 1, sharing captured license plate data with five surrounding police departments, according to Flock’s transparency portal.  The town signed a one-year trial contract with Flock Safety last April for $14,000.

The Falmouth Police Department said it primarily uses the cameras to identify lost and endangered people, wanted persons, stolen vehicles and cars involved in hit-and-runs. Other uses for the data, including immigration enforcement and policing traffic violations, are prohibited, according to Pardue.

Pardue said that Axon’s cameras are a better fit for Falmouth. Flock Safety advertises nationwide sharing with law enforcement of the captured license plate data, while Axon offers more local data storage and sharing, which Pardue said is how Falmouth police have used the cameras. The department trains its officers on how to use this database.

Elsewhere in Maine, and across the country, some citizens have pushed back against the use of Flock cameras, citing concerns about privacy and the risks of who can access the collected data. Recently in South Portland, the city’s request for funding for an eighth Flock camera led to widespread public outcry about the use of the technology in the community. The city withdrew its requests for the new camera, held a workshop that drew hours of public comment, and committed to additional discussions about the use of these cameras.

Alicia Rea, a policy fellow for American Civil Liberties Union of Maine who has been researching this technology, expects other companies like Axon to become more prominent in Maine.

“I think we are going to start pivoting to look at other companies, knowing that there is pushback against Flock, knowing that towns are recognizing that, and going to start looking at the other companies,” said Rea.

The ACLU and other advocacy groups believe automated license plate readers of any kind violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans from unreasonable searches by the government.

Pardue said he’s heard a variety of feedback from Falmouth residents about the automated license plate reader technology  — critical, positive and simply curious.

“I want to have really proactive conversations about these items and the public safety benefits that they offer, finding the balance between public safety and privacy,” said Pardue.

The Town Council will take public comment on this item and vote on a resolution in support of the town manager executing the contract with Axon on June 1.

At the May 11 meeting, councilors showed their appreciation for the procedure and consideration that the police department was exercising in the use of these law enforcement technologies.

“We are entering into a new age of technology that many of us know there can be benefits to, but we also have to do so with thoughtfulness and consideration,” said Town Council Vice Chair Alisa Morton on May 11.