(KNZA)--Hiawatha police officers will be getting new body cameras and Tasers.
The City Commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve a five-year contract with Axon Enterprise that will fully equip the department’s nine officers with new body cameras, Tasers and an online evidence storage system at a cost of nearly 111-thousand dollars.
Police Chief Dave Villanueva says the department’s current cameras are outdated, sometimes fail to record and can take several days to upload video.
The commission also approved an amendment to the city’s careless driving ordinance, allowing officers to enforce the law in public-access parking lots and other private property open to the public.
Villanueva says the department has received repeated complaints about aggressive driving and activities such as speeding, racing and burnouts in parking lots, which create hazardous conditions, near-collisions and fear for pedestrians and other motorists.
The meeting was held at the Fisher Center due to the elevator being out of service at City Hall.








