By: Rebecca Hauschild

The Artesia Police Department’s use of high-tech tools to fight crime will take another step forward with the purchase of a $470,000 Officer Safety Plan bundle from Arizona-based weapon/technology developer Axon.

The city council approved the purchase and related budget adjustments along with several other budget changes during its meeting Nov. 26.

Axon Enterprise Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, manufactures and markets the Taser, which police officers use to incapacitate criminal suspects with electrical current. Axon’s Officer Safety Plan bundle includes the latest version of the Taser, officials said, as well as virtual reality training, streamlined reporting, body cameras and interview room recorders.

The Axon contract will be a recurring expenditure, according to Summer Valverde, Artesia’s city clerk/treasurer.

“We will be replacing about $192,000 in expenditures that are currently within our 2025 budget, so the net is $201,000,” Valverde said. “The total contract is $470,000 but the LEPF fund is going to pay for some of the hardware that will come in the bundle.”

Another budget change will provide city employees with extra pay for maintaining their employment. As part of the budget adjustment resolution, the council approved $3300 in retention pay for employees in departments other than fire and police. The cost of the program is $449,000, Valverde said.

Other items in the fiscal year 2025 budget adjustment resolution included grants received from the Federal Aviation Administration for the taxiway rehab project at the Artesia airport; a $495,000 grant received for a water well project; and a $26,500 increase in expenditures for the law enforcement retention fund.

In other action:

• Community Development/Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair reported that Jaycee Park will be open for winter hours, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the new restrooms will be open during those hours.

• Landfair offered a progress report on 26th Street bridge work. “The northbound lane got poured this week,” he said. “They are starting to work on pads and suspension pieces underneath. As a reminder, please be mindful when you detour in that area and watch for kids playing.”

• Valverde discussed the government committee’s recent review of architecture designs for remodeling the airport: “We are waiting for bids on the hangar, but plans are to have the hangar building and taxiway rehab done by the end of February 2025.”