Whatcom County Sheriff | Body-worn cameras and the Axon evidence cloud
Roughly 90 Axon cameras on deputies, and three county offices paying the same vendor: the Sheriff to record, the Prosecutor to review, the Public Defender to see the evidence against its clients.
At a glance
- The fleet
- The January 2026 contract amendment replaced 90 cameras and 12 docking stations and added 36 months of cloud storage, software and services, $236,734 (AB2026-018) [1]
- The policy
- Lexipol manual section 423, Portable Audio/Video Recorders, published on the county site; authority RCW 10.109.010 [2]
- The prosecution side
- Axon Justice Premier for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office: five years, 41 users, $302,588, approved December 2025 after roughly four years of a complimentary version, per the office's own memo (AB2025-815) [3]
- The defense side
- A five-year $229,668 Axon subscription for the Public Defender's Office to store and access body camera video for discovery, approved March 2025 (AB2025-192) [4]
How it happened
- Decision
The Public Defender buys in
The council authorizes the Public Defender's five-year Axon subscription. The office's memo: the volume of body camera video is too large for the county network, and without cloud access staff time went to downloading video and burning DVDs. [4]
- Decision
The Prosecutor's complimentary period ends
The council authorizes Axon Justice Premier for 41 prosecution users, $302,588 over five years. The office's memo records that Axon had provided a complimentary version for approximately the past four years. [3]
- Decision
The fleet replaced
The council authorizes the amendment replacing 90 cameras and 12 docking stations and extending Axon's cloud storage 36 months, $236,734. [1]
Three budgets, one vendor
The recording end is ordinary: deputies wear Axon cameras under a Lexipol policy that cites the state body camera statute, and the January 2026 amendment that replaced 90 cameras put the fleet’s size into the public record.
What the council record shows unusually well is where the money goes after the recording stops. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told the council in October 2025 that Axon had provided its evidence-review software free for roughly four years before the office signed a $302,588 subscription. The Public Defender’s Office told the council the video volume had outgrown the county network, and bought its own five-year, $229,668 subscription to the same cloud to run discovery. Every hour of footage a deputy records is now an asset three county offices pay one company to hold, review, and hand across the aisle.
What we do not know
- The program's start date and original contract; the policy index lists a "BWC Special Order 6.2.21" we have not read.
- Whether any of the contracts include AI products such as Draft One; the transcription services in the Prosecutor's and Public Defender's subscriptions are the closest the record comes.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Whatcom County.
What we have documented in Whatcom County →Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1. Whatcom County Council agenda, 13 January 2026, item AB2026-018 · Primary document · · accessed
- 2. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office Policy 423, Portable Audio/Video Recorders (Lexipol) · Primary document · accessed
- 3. Whatcom County Council agenda 9 December 2025, item AB2025-815, with the Prosecuting Attorney's staff memo of 28 October 2025 · Primary document · · accessed
- 4. Whatcom County Council agenda 11 March 2025, item AB2025-192, with the Public Defender's staff memo of 26 February 2025 · Primary document · · accessed
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