Marion's $988K Axon Deal Added Plate Readers, Fusus and a Drone

How it passed

The only discussion on record came two days earlier, at the September 15 work session, with all seven members present and no action taken. The minutes record four questions. Harper asked where the data would be stored and how long the equipment lasts. Miskimen asked what access Axon has to the data, and Axon representatives said access "is for support purposes only." Unemin asked who makes the drone (made in the United States, an Axon representative said) and about grants (none planned). Jensen asked if this would be the city's first drone; Chief Jeremy Sprague said police have two and Fire has one. The minutes don't record an answer to Harper's storage question, and they don't mention plate readers or Fusus. Minutes are a summary, not a transcript.

What the money buys

The quote prices five bundles. This is the entire pricing summary.

The surveillance line items

From the quote's delivery schedule. "First ships" is Axon's estimate; the quote says shipping dates "are not guarantees."

The rest of the quote is what the memo describes: 51 body cameras, refreshed in 2029 and 2031; 41 TASER 10s replacing the X26P, with 1,500 cartridges in the first shipment; and Axon VR training replacing the VirTra simulator.

The Outpost statement of work, on the quote's last page, is the only place that says what happens to the fixed plate cameras once they're up. Axon will:

"(a) install, configure, and maintain all hardware at designated location site; (b) validate system power, connectivity, and functionality of Outpost; (c) integrate Outpost with Fusus, including NCIC and state hotlists"

The cameras go on "selected Customer owned properties," at "location sites approved by Axon." If sites haven't been picked by signing, Axon can bill for extra install work. The packet names no sites.

What the chief said, and what Axon's contract says

A week after the vote, The Gazette interviewed Chief Sprague. He said the new plate cameras are "mostly for temporary use" on speed trailers at big events, plus one at the recycling center for illegal dumping, and that the drone is for night searches like "looking for a lost kid." Then he talked about the data:

"Unlike other companies, with Axon we (the city) own the data. It's all encrypted, and Axon doesn't share it or sell it to third parties. Axon actually doesn't have access unless we call them and say, 'Hey, we're having a software issue and need help.'"

"That data is for our internal use only and, by state law, it's purged after 30 days."

Axon's contract terms aren't in the council packet. The quote points to the standard terms on Axon's website and says those win if anything conflicts. Here is how his statements hold up against them.

• "We own the data." Mostly true. The city owns what it uploads. The exception is the drone detection sensors: Axon owns that data and can use it "for any purpose," including sharing it with other agencies "with or without compensation."
• "It's all encrypted." The current terms don't say that. Axon's Master Services and Purchasing Agreement, the terms it posts on its website, changed between versions. The June 2026 posting (v25.3) did promise encryption of uploaded digital evidence; the July 2026 rewrite (v1.0) only promises "commercially reasonable and appropriate" security. We can't tell which one Marion agreed to.
• "Axon doesn't share it or sell it." Partly supported. The terms never use the word "sell" for the city's data, but they limit what Axon may do with it: the July 2026 version says the city owns it and Axon may use it "solely" to run, support and secure the system and enforce its policies. Fusus is the exception. There Axon "may collect, use, transfer, disclose and otherwise process" the city's data to communicate with the city, comply with legal requirements, monitor the city's use and undertake "data analytics." The Fusus appendix to the Sourcewell contract adds that the data "may not be distributed by Axon to any third parties outside of the Customer's organization without the Customer's expressed written consent." Marion's agreement incorporates the Sourcewell contract, but the quote says Axon's standard terms win any conflict, and neither posted version of those terms repeats that sentence. We can't tell whether it still protects Marion.
• "Axon doesn't have access unless we call them." The contract says otherwise. Axon can use the city's data to run, monitor and secure the system and to enforce its own policies. And unless the city opts out, Axon uses the city's data, with identifying details removed, to build new products (see below).
• "Purged after 30 days." Mostly true for plate reads, and the deleting is the city's job, not Axon's. Iowa Code §321P.4, in force since 2024, requires the operator of a plate reader to permanently delete every captured plate image and its accompanying data within 30 days. A violation is a simple misdemeanor. Two limits: police may copy an image and its data before then if they are relevant to an ongoing criminal case or investigation, and those copies are kept under the department's own evidence retention policy, outside the 30 days. And the law is written for plate readers; it says nothing about body camera, car camera, Fusus or drone video. In Axon's system the city picks the retention setting, anywhere from 30 days to 99 years, and the terms say nothing specific about plate reads, so the 30 days depends on how Marion sets it.

He also said a policy limits who can see the data and will be tightened to supervisors only, with audits. That policy wasn't in the packet.

Where the data is stored

Harper asked this at the work session. The contract's answer: on Axon's cloud servers, somewhere in the United States, in data centers Axon picks and can hand off to subcontractors. When the contract ends, Axon keeps the data 90 days so the city can download it, then deletes it.

Next to Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids approved its own Axon package in June (our breakdown), through the same Sourcewell contract. From each city's own documents:

Cedar Rapids' signed contract included a Fusus Qualifier Summary listing which camera networks would feed its 250 streams. Marion's packet has nothing like it. Neither city's documents say whether the two Fusus systems are connected.

Timeline

• Feb 6 2024 Sourcewell awards Axon contract #101223-AXN

  The cooperative contract both cities buy through.

• Aug 31 2026 Axon issues quote Q-832482-002

  Marked to expire September 30.

• Sept 15 2026 Work session review

  Questions on storage, Axon's access and the drone. No action taken.

• Sept 17 2026 Approved on consent

  Resolution 33055. Five of seven members present.

• Sept 24 2026 Chief explains the plan to The Gazette
• Oct 8 and 22 2026 No further council action

  Nothing on Axon in either set of minutes. Oct 8, Oct 22.

• Nov 1 2026 First payment and first shipment due, per the quote

  Drone, plate cameras, Dedrone sensors, TASER 10s. Whether they arrived isn't public.

• Nov 5 2026 Still nothing further on Axon

  Nov 5 minutes.

• Dec 1 2026 Program starts

  Four old Axon contracts end. Plate reader licenses and Fusus streams begin.

• Dec 15 2027 Sourcewell contract expires

  Marion's piggyback agreement keeps its terms in force for this quote until the quote's term ends.

• May 2029 Drone and body camera refresh
• Nov 30 2031 Term ends

Axon's product program, and how Marion can opt out

Page 7 of the quote says: "By signing below, you agree to the terms of the Axon Customer Experience Improvement Program." Axon calls it ACEIP. It lets Axon use what the city uploads "to develop, improve, and support current and future Axon products." Every customer is enrolled by default. The city doesn't have to do anything to be in it. It has to act to get out.

What Axon does with the data

• Axon runs the city's content through "privacy-preserving transformations that remove identifying information appropriate to the use case." Axon decides what is appropriate.
• The result is called "Transformed Content," and it stops being the city's: "Transformed Content is not Customer Content."
• Axon staff can't look at the original content, but they can look at the transformed version.
• Trained AI counts. The terms list "AI model weights and similar insights" as Transformed Content.
• Axon posts each new use on its transparency portal and can switch it on for every enrolled agency 15 days after notifying them. The agency doesn't approve each one.

The terms also say Axon won't train its models on "Customer Content." But by the contract's own definitions, once content is transformed it is no longer Customer Content.

How to opt out

One email to [email protected]. The terms say the city "may opt out of ACEIP Basic at any time," and that Axon "endeavors to implement opt outs within fifteen (15) calendar days." Only the city can send it, because the city is the customer. A resident on camera has no way to opt out on their own.

Timing matters. Opting out stops new use, but "Axon may retain Transformed Content created before it implemented the opt out request." Whatever Axon builds from Marion's data before that email lands, Axon keeps. Marion has used Axon body and car cameras for years under earlier contracts, so whether it is already enrolled isn't public.

Ask the Marion Police Department to opt out

Ask Chief Sprague and your council members to:

1. Email [email protected] to opt Marion out of ACEIP, both Basic and Custom.
2. Get Axon's written confirmation of the date the opt-out took effect, and make it public.
3. Ask Axon what it has already built from Marion's data, and request that it be deleted. The terms don't require Axon to agree, but the request goes on the record.
4. Publish the written plate reader and drone policies before the new equipment is in use.

The chief told The Gazette the data is "for our internal use only." Opting out is how to make that true for Axon's product program too. The city website lists how to reach council members.

Check it yourself

• The memo, agreement and quote: Marion's document 409469, or our copy.
• Minutes: Sept 15 work session, Sept 17 regular session.
• Axon's terms: the live page, and our copies of the July 2026 version (current) and the June 2026 version.
• Sourcewell: the contract page, and our copies of the contract (with the older terms and Amendments 1–4) and its Fusus appendix.

Thanks to DSM Sentinel, whose November 7 reporting pointed us to this agreement. Every figure here comes from the city's own documents.