By Ray Gronberg

gronberg@heraldsun.com; 419-6648

DURHAM -- City Manager Tom Bonfield has put the brakes on a request from the Durham Police Department to spend $688,810 to equip 102 patrol cars with new in-car video cameras.

Bonfield pulled it off the agenda for the City Council's most recent work session and asked Police Chief Jose Lopez to give him the "complete report, research, analysis and evaluation" the department conducted on the proposal.

He said later he made the decision because the department is proposing a sole-source deal that would bypass normal bidding procedures.

The deal would take advantage of terms a Texas group, the Houston-Galveston Area Council, previously negotiated for its member governments with camera vendor Coban Technologies Inc.

"I have lots and lots of questions about that," Bonfield said, adding that he wants to hear about "how they came to the conclusion that this was the best company to spend that much money with."

The manager indicated he could wind up agreeing the purchase is for the best. "It might all satisfy me once I get the answers," he said.

State law allows cities to bypass normal bid procedures to buy things through purchasing co-ops like the Texas group. City officials often use that authority to buy trucks and other types of heavy equipment.

Police use in-car video systems to document arrests, traffic stops and interactions they have with the public. The Durham department already has a number of cameras.

But the plan now is to replace "faulty and obsolete equipment" with new systems, Lopez said in a Nov. 3 memo that went to Bonfield and the council.

The chief said in the memo that the department had begun researching the proposal in September 2008 and initially considered offerings from more than 20 vendors. They narrowed the field to two and installed systems from them as a pilot program.

A third camera vendor the department had previously done business with "developed a new system" similar to the others and was also included in the evaluation.

After checking with officers involved in the pilot program and other personnel, the department's "executive command staff" opted for the Coban system, Lopez said.

While prices for all three systems were "very similar," Coban's "offers the most functionality and ease of use and was highly recommended by agencies that have that system in place.

Lopez added that the department has used in-car video since 1998, and bought new systems as the technology improved. But it now has "a significant number of non-functioning cameras, and the systems that are functioning are not standardized."

Settling on one vendor "will allow for more reliable service while keeping up with current technology," he said.

But the department has used the same rationale to support bypassing bid procedures before.

Bonfield's predecessor, former City Manager Patrick Baker, twice approved camera or camera-related purchases in early 2008 from another vendor, Kustom Signals Inc., that didn't necessarily go to the low bidder.

Both times, officials said the decision was justified because "the city has standardized on the Kustom Signals brand of in-car video systems." The line appeared in memos to Baker from purchasing managers in April 2008 and June 2008.

Kustom Signals is based in Lenexa, Kan. Coban Technologies is based in Stafford, Texas.

Durham police are proposing to pay for the new cameras with federal asset-forfeiture funds rather than local tax revenue. The federal subsidies are revenues seized from criminals and are shared with local governments around the country.

City financial statements show that the department received $3.7 million in asset-forfeiture money from fiscal 2002-03 through fiscal 2008-09. It typically spends the bulk of what it receives on equipment.

Bonfield has been keeping close watch on the Police Department since September, when a tipster alerted him to the fact that a low-ranking officer had received $62,583 in overtime, more than double her annual salary, in the previous year or so.

The tip led to the firing of the officer and the ouster of the department's former deputy chief for operations, Beverly "B.J." Council.

The officer listed as the "resource person" for the camera request, Lt. John Shelton, couldn't be reached Thursday for comment. Shelton is executive officer of the department's Administrative Services Bureau.