ASHEVILLE - Buncombe County commissioners pulled an agenda item that was set to be discussed during the board's meeting Oct. 6 related to a county contract with Axon Fusus, a company that provides security equipment to law enforcement.
The agenda item pulled was a budget amendment asking the board to appropriate $290,000 to renew the county's contract with Axon Fusus and fund a security camera project related to an area where evidence is stored, according to Sheriff's Office spokesperson Matt Marshall.
Buncombe County Commissioner Drew Ball made a motion to pull the item, which passed.
Marshall said that the Sheriff's Office requested that the agenda item be pulled so that the department could present on the topic and answer questions from commissioners
at the board meeting Nov. 5.
The county contracts with Axon Fusus for its body cameras and the dash cams in vehicles, and Fusus software runs the county's Real Time Intelligence Center, Marshall said. Axon and Fusus were previously separate companies, and Axon acquired Fusus in 2024, according to a news release from the company.
Axon became the subject of intense debate in Asheville after the Asheville City Council voted in May to accept federal funding to create a "real-time intelligence center." The center will use Axon Fusus software to connect public and private cameras to the police network and aggregate that data into a hub at the police department's downtown Asheville headquarters, the Citizen Times previously reported.
The first iteration of Buncombe County's real-time intelligence center was established in August 2021, Marshall said. The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office began using the real-time body cameras and dash cameras in 2023. At the time, the five-year contract for the cameras cost the county just over $2.4 million, according to a copy obtained by the Citizen Times.
In addition to Axon Fusus technology, Buncombe County also uses Flock Safety cameras. There are more than 70 Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras in Buncombe County, and although Asheville recently voted to end its contractwith Flock Safety, surveillance fears have sparked broad public discussion.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe pulls Axon contract item amid surveillance debate
