Tuesday, October 6, 2026
, 77°Wind: mph,
Welcome to our new web site!
To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.
During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.
The city of Las Cruces will spend $446,625 more on body cameras following a Nov. 4 City Council vote.
The council unanimously approved an amendment to its contract with Axon Enterprise, an Arizona-based company that manufactures Taser guns and body-worn cameras for police departments.
In turn, the police department will receive more cameras and Tasers as well as more software licenses for Tasers and cameras. The increase also covers fees associated with the purchase. The total value of the city’s contract with Axon is now over $2.3 million.
Ginger Barela, a city buyer who presented the contract amendment, said the police department required more cameras because there are more police officers than when the contract was first agreed to in 2020.
In 2023, the council approved a budget that increased LCPD’s police officer roster from 202 to 220. That means the department is funded to employ up to 220 officers, although high turnover rates in recent years have meant the department typically has fewer officers at any given time.
Barela also pointed out that state law requires nearly every police officer to wear a body-worn camera when interacting with the public. Barela and LCPD Police Chief Jeremy Story argued that this money would help the city maintain compliance with that law.
The New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Bill 8 in 2020. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, mandated that all New Mexico police departments require their officers to wear body cameras.
“That was an unfunded mandate, so when the requirement came down, there was no funding attached to Senate Bill 8,” Story said, following a question from Councilor Cassie McClure about the law. “At that time, we were already equipping our police officers, commissioned officers, with body cameras.”
According to the city, LCPD has utilized body cameras since 2014.
In 2020, the city signed an initial deal with Axon worth about $1.8 million. The city council voted to amend that deal in 2021 for redaction software, which added $63,700 to the contract.
Body camera videos are public records, meaning that any member of the public can receive the footage. The city can redact certain parts of the video, such as a person’s birthdate, and the city said that the software makes that redaction easier.
The entire contract with Axon will be up for renewal in 2025.
