What the council approved
The Durham City Council voted 6-1 Monday night to approve a $16 million contract with Axon Enterprises Inc. for drones, in-car cameras, and a surveillance integration platform for the Durham Police Department. Councilman Nate Baker cast the lone no vote.
The deal's most contested additions: two drone-as-first-responder units for aerial visibility on 911 calls, 100 in-car cameras for full fleet coverage, and the Axon Fusus platform, which unifies live video feeds and officer GPS locations on a single map. Auto-transcriptions for audio evidence and unlimited cloud storage round out the package.
What opponents argued
The nearly two-hour public hearing drew direct comparisons to Durham's recent rejections of ShotSpotter, a Peregrine Technologies contract, and a proposed real-time data center. Critics said the Axon deal reintroduces the same concerns under a different name.
Resident Damon Williams called the drones and the video-unification software "truly heinous" and said he rejected "the use of our money for any platform supporting any real-time crime center at all." Resident Brian Fox warned that public data stored on Axon's servers would put residents at the mercy of "a private corporate entity with no off switch and no real accountability." Several speakers urged the council to redirect the $16 million to youth programs, housing, and violence prevention instead.
What supporters said
Advocates kept the argument grounded in gun violence. Floyd McKissick, chair of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, said Axon "needs to be expanded" and pushed back on fears of AI. "What we need to do is make sure that that technology that has the capacity to reduce crime, to reduce violence, and to hold those accountable for their conduct is utilized," he said. "We can't be afraid of it."
Councilwoman Shanetta Burris said her vote was shaped by community trauma, recalling a drive-by shooting scene she visited on East Main Street. The contract covers Durham Police's expanded camera fleet and drone program.