OC Today-Dispatch DECEMBER 5, 2025
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PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOD BOY MANUFACTURING
Thousands gathered on the street in downtown Berlin last Friday night to witness the lighting of the town’s Christmas tree and see the ice sculptures. See pages 26-27 for more pictures.
Addis quits school bd. Bishopville representative shocks other members as she resigns after airing grievances with press, decisions, good ol’ boys network, spending and union. A year remains on her term. — Page 16
Council okays $5M police tech deal — PAGE 3
Moratorium extended ... New short-term rental licenses stay on hold in R1, MH zoning districts. — PAGE 10
... and petition promised Opponents say they’ll force it to referendum like they did rental restrictions.— PAGE 12
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OC officials pass costly plan for public safety technology By Bethany Hooper Associate Editor (Dec. 5, 2025) City officials this week gave the go-ahead on a $4.9 million contract to modernize the Ocean City Police Department’s technology system. On Monday, the City Council agreed to extend and modify the department’s current contract with Axon Enterprise. As proposed, the company will implement a five-year modernization program that incorporates updated equipment and new artificial intelligence technology, among other things. “This is a total public safety approach within this package with Axon,” Police Chief Ray Austin told the council this week. Austin said discussions with Axon began earlier this year, when the department began exploring equipment upgrades for both the interview rooms and the police vehicles. He noted that the current systems are failing, and that the department is now down to nine in-car cameras. While an updated contract would include replacement systems for that equipment, he said the department worked with Axon to get lower pricing for other technological advancements, including new Tasers and the implementation of Fusus, a real-time crime center platform that makes camera feeds and body-worn camera footage accessible to the department. “It would allow us to bring all City Watch cameras into the Axon ecosystem,” he said. “It’s intelligence sharing, real-time videos, and information sharing.” The tech package would also include a drone detection program, which would be used to detect drones and guide officers to their operators, and artificial intelligence technology, which could analyze video, write reports, translate, and more. Axon’s Andrew Malherek noted that a trial run of the AI technology showed an increase in time savings amongst officers who participated. “Not only is it efficient, but it’s also getting officers back on the road quicker to do what they want to be doing,” he said, “which is being on the road and protecting the city.” For his part, Austin said he was seeking the council’s approval to consolidate existing contracts and technology systems into a single integrated platform offered by Axon. While the package is priced at $4,907,717, he said the technology would be used by other departments – including the fire marshal’s office and emergency services – and would be spread out over five years. However, some council members said they were surprised to find a $5 million budget item in this week’s agenda packet. While he reiterated his support for public safety, Councilman John Gehrig said he believed the request should’ve first been made at a work session.
“This kind of came out of the blue,” he said. “It wasn't in the budget.” Council Secretary Tony DeLuca agreed. “This is a $5 million surprise,” he said. City Manager Terry McGean said the city’s current contract with Axon totaled $431,000 a year and ends on July 1, 2027. Under the new contract, he said, the city would pay $479,221 upfront for capital equipment costs, and $885,701 every year after until the contract expires in February of 2031. However, he said that annual price would increase to $1 million if the council waited for the current contract to expire in 2027. He said that wouldn’t include the detection drone program or the artificial intelligence technology. “If we wait and let this contract run out and don't renew until it ends and purchase everything except for the AI reporting and the d-drones – those are the optional things that are in this contract – if we did that, the price is estimated to go up in FY28 to $1,054,243,” he told the council. “So the bottom line here is the cost difference between doing what’s being proposed today and what we would do if we waited is about $260,000 more.” Councilwoman Carol Proctor argued that the new contract would save the city money over time. She added that it also included extra technology that the city did not receive in its current contract. “In this new contract here, it’s $885,000 per year,” she said. “To me, it’s a cost savings, and we’re getting additional technology.” Gehrig said he still had questions about the contract. He said he wanted to know what the city’s options were, and if they were getting the best deal. “I’m not saying I’m opposed to this either,” he said. “It’s just that very rarely – and it’s usually public safety – that we come in with these surprise, big, gigantic numbers. And we always lean back to ‘well, I support public safety.’ We all support public safety. Asking questions doesn’t mean I don’t support public safety.” When asked about the “need to haves” and “want to haves,” Austin acknowledged that some of the items included in the contract were wants. However, he said the department worked with the city manager to trim the contract from its initial $7 million price tag. That included eliminating a Drone First Responder program. When staff noted that the price of the new contract was good until the end of the month, the council voted 6-0, with Council President Matt James absent, to extend and modify the city’s contract with Axon. As presented, the tech package includes extended warranties, training, service coverage and technological refreshes throughout the five-year contract, which starts March 1, 2026 and ends Feb. 28, 2031.
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