Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will hear a presentation from Lawrence police about the initiative underway to integrate private surveillance cameras across the city and the long-term goal to launch a “Real Time Operations Center.”
The update initially came at the requests of dozens of residents who have spoken out during public comment and in writing to the commission asking that the rollout of the program be paused so the public can discuss concerns.
The video surveillance system, Connect Lawrence, includes a camera registry and integration options that would enable businesses and organizations to give police access to view live footage from their cameras.
Voluntary participants in the program can register their security cameras and contact information with the police department, allowing police to see where cameras are located and request footage if a crime occurs nearby.
The program also includes a camera integration option, where participants can install a custom device — ranging in price from $350 to $7,300, with additional annual service subscriptions of $150 to $2,300 — to allow the police department live access to camera feeds.
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A memo to the city commission ahead of Tuesday’s meeting states that “The Lawrence Police Department has no interest, and sees no benefit, in cameras integrated from individual residences. Draft language has been added to our Public Safety Video System policy that states, ‘The Lawrence Police Department will not allow live stream integration for cameras associated with individual residences.'”
Cameras integrated for livestreaming to the police department would instead come from businesses or organizations, according to the police department’s memo.
An extension of the Fusus program is a real-time crime center, a centralized unit where law enforcement analyzes live surveillance video. Real-time crime centers have raised concern from advocates because they collect vast amounts of surveillance data with little public oversight.
“Over the past several months, the Lawrence Police Department has taken steps toward implementing the concepts of a Real Time Operations Center (RTOC) by assigning one to two designated staff to manually access the traffic camera system during calls for service,” according to the meeting agenda. “These staff members identify relevant camera locations, review live feeds, and relay critical information directly to responding officers.”
A physical RTOC is not currently funded in the city’s capital improvement plan, but the estimated cost for renovations to a room in the department’s Investigations and Training Center at 4820 Bob Billings Parkway was $1.6 million.
2025-CIP-draft-Real-Time-Crime-Center“Our long-term goal is to pursue a combination of external and internal funding opportunities to establish a true RTOC – one that fully leverages technological investigative tools to support patrol operations and improve outcomes during critical incidents,” according to the agenda. “Funding for this program will be subject to approval through the City’s annual budget process.”
The program is run by Axon, a company that provides public safety and security technology. Lawrence in 2019 began purchasing body cameras, intelligence software and more from Axon. In 2024, city commissioners approved a consolidated contract extending usage of the systems. Within the contract was the addition of Fusus software, the Axon product that includes asking communities for access to cameras.
A subject expert said Axon creates integrated products that encourage customers to buy more. Though Axon may start by selling body cameras, they will quickly shift to pushing other surveillance products. Read more about that in this July article.
The memo notes that the Fusus platform comprises about $270,800 of the $3.2 million, five-year contract with Axon. The contract was approved “in order to avoid an approximated 8% increase in costs for Axon services which would occur with a year-to-year contract and by not bundling the services into one agreement,” according to the memo. The commission’s approval came via a November 2024 consent agenda (items that are generally considered routine and approved without discussion).
As of a Monday afternoon update to Tuesday’s meeting agenda, the commission had received five written public comments from people asking them to put the program on pause until the community can provide input. Dozens of similar comments have come in via previous commission agendas in recent months.
Community members pushed for the item to be on the commission’s regular agenda rather than included as a work session item, as commissioners generally do not take binding action on work session items.
The item is included on the commission’s regular agenda, following a request for tax breaks to renovate the former Reuter Organ building in downtown Lawrence, and a $400,000 contract for a North Lawrence comprehensive corridor study.
City staff members are not asking the commission to take any action related to the police department update, but commissioners can ask the department to pause the program if they choose to.
In particular, community members have asked the commission to pause the program long enough to implement a local ordinance with public feedback and input so that there would be some oversight of the system and its use, and a better understanding of the police department’s intentions.
Commissioners will meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of meetings. The commission also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually.
Attendees can join the meeting virtually via Zoom, which also allows participants to provide public comment, at this link. Meeting recordings are uploaded to the city’s YouTube channel the next day.
See the commission’s complete meeting agenda at this link. Read previous coverage of Axon, Fusus and camera surveillance at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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