2026-10-19 - OMBGA Special Committee

00:40Okay, we're live, folks.

00:42Hello, everyone. Um still waiting for a

00:44couple of

00:46committee members, but good evening.

00:48Welcome to the October 19th, 2026

00:52special virtual operations management

00:55budget and government accountability

00:57meeting. I am Councilman Marilyn E.

00:58Rossetti. I'm the chair of this

01:00committee. This meeting is broadcasting

01:02live on HPA TV's Xfinity government

01:06channel 96, Frontier government channel

01:096032.

01:10It will also be streamed via hpatv.org,

01:14the HPA TV Facebook page, and the HPA TV

01:19Apple TV, Amazon TV, and Roku TV apps.

01:23It will also be made available on the

01:25HPA TV YouTube channel. I'd like to

01:28acknowledge everyone present today.

01:31We have Councilman Thomas, we have

01:33Council President Clark, we have

01:35Councilman Sergeant, we have our corp

01:37counsel Jonathan Harding, we have

01:39Director Froind, we have Is that

01:43Sergeant Mastriani? We have Sergeant

01:45Mastriani, we have Deputy Chief Powell,

01:49and

01:51that's it. We have Council's uh staff

01:53Noelia Ortiz. Um

01:55Councilman Clark or Council President

01:57Clark and

01:58Councilman Thomas are voting members.

02:01And we will now call I am calling this

02:04meeting to order and we have one agenda

02:07item and that is 2.1 Mayor Arulampalam

02:11with the accompanying resolution

02:12authorizing the Hartford Police

02:13Department to enter into a 5-year

02:16integrated technology solution agreement

02:19with Axon Enterprises Inc.

02:22I believe that Sergeant Mastrianni is

02:25going is present to speak but I don't

02:28know if Deputy Chief Powell also wanted

02:30to say something.

02:32>> Yeah, I will

02:33Deputy Chief Powell is going to speak.

02:35>> Okay.

02:36>> I know you guys are used to Councilwoman

02:38Rosado. You're used to hearing from

02:40Chris Mastrianni but it's my turn I

02:41guess.

02:42>> Sounds good.

02:45>> All right, you ready?

02:46>> We are ready.

02:48>> Okay. So so the purpose behind this

02:50resolution is

02:52the the police department is looking to

02:56the primary resource here we're looking

02:57to add on to where additional tasers for

03:02the police department

03:05part of this purchase includes

03:08doubling our capacity for our officers

03:12in the field from 100 to 200 tasers in

03:17the field. That comes also with

03:21virtual reality. It says VR training but

03:23for those who are familiar with virtual

03:25reality training

03:28that is also

03:30one of the technologies provided. It

03:32allows officers to work through various

03:35scenarios in

03:37these virtual reality

03:40settings that

03:42and and they can run through repeat

03:43sessions

03:44and work on de-escalation techniques.

03:47They can also work on Um, another

03:50benefit behind the VR training is that

03:52you can using a uh

03:55virtual reality taser is that you

03:57actually have a physical hardware. It

03:58looks like the same taser the officers

04:00use. They can train with that to make

04:02sure that they're proficient with that

04:03um

04:04and don't have to expend additional

04:07um costs

04:09associated with firing actual taser

04:11rounds. You can do it in this

04:13uh virtual sense. Uh the other

04:16um

04:17uh thing that comes along with this uh

04:20consolidation of of contracts is the

04:22fact that uh we met with Axon who is the

04:26provider of tasers. Uh they have a few

04:29other three other contracts with us

04:31including some

04:32uh contracts that have mandated um

04:36are mandated by the state which is body

04:38worn cameras and in-car cameras

04:41um and some other portion of those

04:43contracts

04:44we we talked with Axon. We were able to

04:47if we consolidate into this five-year

04:48agreement uh save uh the city a million

04:51dollars over the course of the life of

04:53that contract by consolidating

04:56um instead of having these multiple

04:57independent contracts um and we were

05:00also able to maintain uh those contracts

05:04uh

05:05are the payments for the next two years

05:07as being budget neutral meaning whatever

05:10we were going to pay for initially

05:13in fiscal year 27 and and and fiscal

05:16year 28 remains the same um

05:20cost and then there's a a different cost

05:22over the remaining three years of that

05:25contract.

05:28>> Thank you Deputy Chief. Um

05:31I will open the floor up to my

05:35colleagues for questions.

05:39>> Madam Chair through you.

05:40>> Yes.

05:42>> Um

05:45Thank you for the presentation um Deputy

05:48Chief Powell. Um Um

05:50regarding Axon, is there a

05:55um how do I want to describe it?

05:58Like an early termination clause within

06:00the contract after the 2 years?

06:04>> There's not a specific early termination

06:07clause. There There

06:09um

06:10I believe

06:11there is a clause if you can't fund

06:14the if you don't find funding

06:16at that point,

06:18then there is a way to uh

06:21I I renegotiate that portion of of the

06:24contract.

06:24>> And that would be a year three, correct?

06:27>> That would be year Yeah, fiscal year

06:30three or whenever

06:31we could not find funding for it. It

06:34wouldn't be specific to fiscal year

06:35three. It would be whenever the city if

06:38the city came back and said, "Hey,

06:40we can't find the funding for this."

06:43Um

06:43then that that clause would come into

06:45play. So, it's not tied to a year, it's

06:46tied to a funding capacity.

06:49>> Got you. All right. So, that actually

06:50could be

06:52even though you said it's um

06:54the next 2 years are

06:56net neutral.

06:58If we

07:00or even if so, the administration's

07:02developing its budget for next fiscal

07:04year, that could be that clause could be

07:07triggered.

07:09Or would it be after the 2 years?

07:11And if you can't answer it, I That's

07:13That's That's quite all right.

07:14>> Yeah, I mean, without

07:16speculating, my understanding was was

07:19and we had these discussions back and

07:20forth was that at any point in that

07:23contract if the funding couldn't be

07:28located, the city could no longer fund

07:29that project, then then yes, you could

07:31initiate that clause.

07:33>> Okay. All right. And the amount of these

07:37tasers that's going to cover the entire

07:39police department?

07:41>> It doesn't It does not cover the entire

07:43police department. It covers

07:44>> Okay.

07:45the vast majority Well, it would cover

07:47the entire patrol division.

07:49Um

07:51with staffing the patrol division and a

07:53vast amount of the remainder of the

07:55department. We have 350 or so, give or

07:57take, without me having that numbers

07:59directly

08:00at us, but that includes supervision,

08:02that includes, you know,

08:04command staff.

08:05Um but the vast majority of the folks

08:07that are in the field, that are doing

08:09police work in our community um and

08:11managing some of these situations, what

08:13it would provide access to a TASER VR.

08:15>> Got you. And the VR training, that's uh

08:18is that the simulator?

08:20>> No, so the VR training are actually like

08:23the virtual reality headsets that

08:25there's, I believe, yeah,

08:27>> Like the Oculus?

08:28>> Uh essentially, yes, like the Oculus.

08:30That's exactly correct. Yes.

08:31>> Okay.

08:33Okay. Um

08:33>> And and the benefit, if I may, real uh

08:36quick, um

08:38uh

08:39in that same token about the VR, there's

08:41community engagement training as well.

08:43Uh and the benefit is you can um

08:47do those in like micro training

08:48sessions. You don't have to pull in Now,

08:50you know,

08:51we pull in, you know, all of our

08:53officers for a training, well, not all,

08:54but like a large amount of our officers

08:56into these training sessions. You could

08:58also do these micro training sessions

09:01with just a few people in short periods

09:02of time to kind of work on proficiency

09:04in some of these areas. One of the

09:06benefits around the VR training.

09:08>> Okay. And how does

09:10>> this uh tie into uh C4?

09:14>> Uh

09:15the

09:16uh the VR training itself does does not

09:18>> No, just the the the the entire package

09:20that we're that we're considering of

09:22what we're going today.

09:24>> Well, so we currently have one of our

09:25contracts under uh Axon is Fusus.

09:28Um Sergeant Mastriani uh maybe can pipe

09:31up just uh for people on the the uh

09:35meeting can understand what that is.

09:38>> Sure, Fusus is just a name that Axon

09:41gave this program, but it's basically a

09:43a public-private camera partnership

09:45program that we started uh about 4 years

09:47now. Uh initially funded out of a

09:50Department of Justice Community Violence

09:51Grant uh that is now passed on to our

09:54budget here, but it is uh a way for

09:56businesses to voluntarily uh share their

09:59camera feeds and have us ingest them

10:01here into C4 uh to help them with their

10:04quality of life issues or property

10:06issues, whatever they have going on

10:07around their business. Um it just gives

10:09us the ability to have them ingested

10:11here live.

10:12They also give permission to, in the

10:14event that a crime should occur in front

10:15of their business, say we have a

10:17shooting, and this has happened many

10:18times, homicide, anything uh in front of

10:20their business cameras, that obviously

10:21gives us uh

10:23some more solvability uh features, and

10:25expands upon our current camera network.

10:28Um

10:29so, that is called Fusus. It is We have

10:31about 100 almost locations set up around

10:33the city. Mostly gas stations,

10:36um

10:37barber shops, liquor stores, we have the

10:39Yard Goats stadium, we have the

10:40Connecticut Science Center, so we have

10:42some bigger locations like that. Um it

10:44is just a program uh long story short,

10:46it's a program that uh

10:48public entities can share their camera

10:50feeds with the crime center.

10:53>> Okay.

10:54Thank you.

10:56Um thank you, Madam Chair.

10:59>> Certainly, Councilwoman Surgeon.

11:02>> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Three you,

11:04Madam Chair.

11:05>> Sure.

11:05>> Um so, we have um

11:08to Deputy Chief, we have about 350

11:11approximate um sworn officers.

11:14And if we're getting how many of the 350

11:17is um command staff? So, which would be

11:21possibly be given uh one of the Tasers

11:25out of the 350?

11:27>> Uh so, I'm sorry, uh Councilwoman So,

11:30just to be clear on the question, how

11:31many of the command staff will get them

11:33or how many

11:34>> will not. So, you're getting 200, right?

11:38>> Right.

11:38>> And And you said most of it is going to

11:40be going to patrol?

11:41>> Correct. The The officers in the field

11:44who are working in the in the community.

11:46Yes.

11:47>> Right. So, what sales officers

11:50who are not part of patrol, will they be

11:52also entitled to get one?

11:55>> Well, some of it will So, we'll have to

11:57be just just strategic about our

11:58deployment. You know,

12:00when you get 200 tasers and you have you

12:03know,

12:04you know, maybe 275 or 280 people that

12:09are in the field,

12:10uh you

12:12uh or not in the field because some of

12:13those So, remember without giving the

12:15specific numbers of who's assigned

12:16where,

12:17um

12:18the 100

12:20or the 200 is beyond what we have

12:22assigned to patrol and it covers it

12:24would cover folks

12:26in in any units that are engaging

12:30members in the community. Like our

12:32uh

12:33our community service officers, our uh

12:36our conditions unit or I'm sorry, our

12:38street crimes unit. Uh it could be um

12:41some of the folks in our violent crimes

12:42unit. Um so, some of the deployments

12:44depend on, you know, uh assignments and

12:48those people who fill in in a lot of

12:50these, you know, we do have Everybody's

12:51aware that we have staffing gaps that

12:53we're filling with folks on overtime.

12:56Uh we can be strategic about assigning

12:58those to folks who are able to uh who

13:00end up in some of those roles most of

13:02the time. Our goal here, just to be

13:04clear, is to get it out to as many

13:06people as possible so that they have the

13:07access and the capabilities to um you

13:11know, use them in a way to bring a

13:13situation to a close without causing,

13:15you know, further harm. That's the point

13:16of

13:17uh our That's our goal here.

13:22>> Councilwoman, you're on mute.

13:25>> Sorry, Madam Chair. Thank you. I just

13:28wanted to just say that I want to thank

13:30you guys for actually increase the

13:32number of tasers, you know, so I really

13:35appreciate that. And if you were to go

13:37extra 50 more,

13:39you know, what would if you're saving a

13:40million dollars here, you go to extra 50

13:43or so more, what would that cost be?

13:47>> I I I don't have the the the cost for an

13:50additional 50 in front of me.

13:52Um

13:53that would be have to be part of that

13:55uh in this negotiation process. I think

13:57the idea was to try and balance

13:59um

14:01you know, we can always go back in the

14:02future and seek some of these things,

14:04too, if we're looking for additional. If

14:05we find that the 200 is insufficient,

14:07then we can, you know, come back to the

14:09table and have discussions with our

14:10vendor

14:11and see how we can get to that next

14:13level.

14:14Um I think uh at this at this stage we

14:17think that 200 would be sufficient in

14:19the in the near term to really provide

14:22uh the capabilities that we're talking

14:24about here to the the mass the masses

14:26that are actually engaging our folks in

14:28the community. I don't have that number,

14:29I'm sorry, in front of me to add on

14:30additional 50.

14:31>> That's okay. No, the reason why I asked

14:33is, you know, I mean, it's a

14:35equipment. Okay? And sometimes equipment

14:38goes down.

14:39You know, so always having a little bit,

14:41you know, behind the scenes

14:43uh to replace equipment goes down or

14:46broken,

14:47uh it's always nice to have a little bit

14:49to, you know, so you can juggle making

14:51sure that, you know, the patrolman CSO

14:55uh and anyone that is um interacting

14:56with the community, you know, have one.

14:59That's why I asked if a little extra,

15:01you know, give you, you know, a little

15:03um maneuver room.

15:05>> So, we do get some spares.

15:07We do get some spares built into that

15:09process. Uh there's there's uh

15:12you know, a smaller number of spares,

15:14but in the event we have, you know, uh

15:16uh

15:17you know, technical issues with these

15:19things,

15:20uh you know, we've worked with Axon in

15:21the past to make sure that we weren't um

15:24doing without uh those tools.

15:27>> Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam

15:29Chair.

15:30>> Um

15:31>> [clears throat]

15:31>> excuse me. Thank you, Deputy Chief.

15:33Sergeant, did you want to say something?

15:36>> Uh I Chief Council, I was going to say

15:38it is essentially a lease program where

15:41if you know, those tasers do break to

15:42answer your question, uh in your

15:44contract they would replace those. So,

15:46you would

15:47uh

15:48you wouldn't just start depleting your

15:50inventory based on break broken

15:52equipment.

15:54>> Thank you, Sergeant. Uh Councilman

15:55Thomas, do you have any questions?

15:59>> No, Madam Chair. I'm all set. Thank you.

16:01>> Okay. Thank you very much.

16:03Seeing as how I don't believe there are

16:04any further questions, I have two voting

16:06members. Thank you, Councilman Sergeant

16:08for coming to the meeting. I am um

16:11looking for a motion to send this back

16:13favorable to the Council.

16:15>> So moved.

16:16>> Second.

16:17>> Second. I have a I have a motion and a

16:19second. All in favor?

16:21>> Aye.

16:21>> Aye.

16:22>> Opposed, abstain, motion passes. Thank

16:25you very much. Thank you all for coming

16:27tonight and have a good evening. Motion

16:29adjourned.

16:30>> Same to

17:39>> Mhm.