$37 Million, Ten Years, and a Fleet of Drones: Tell Cherokee Commissioners to Vote No on Item 12.1

1 day ago

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On Tuesday, October 20th, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will vote on a ten year, $37,287,493.75 agreement between the Sheriff's Office and Axon Enterprise Inc., the company behind TASER and police body cameras. It's Item 12.1 on the amended agenda. When it was pulled from the October 6 meeting, it was listed as Item 12.12.

The short version

Cherokee already has one of the lowest crime rates in Georgia, about a third of the statewide rate, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The first year alone costs $3.44 million, more than two and a half times what the county pays Axon now.
It adds drones, counter drone radar, AI software, covert interview room cameras, and more camera feeds, with no written limits on how they can be used.
Axon was the only vendor evaluated, and the county's own procurement summary says pricing confirmation hadn't arrived yet.
Four Sheriff's Office employees were arrested this year over alleged misuse of license plate data, and this contract adds no audit requirements.
It plans for connecting the Sheriff's new Axon records system to Peregrine, the AI intelligence platform Woodstock tried to join without public discussion.

What you can do before the vote

Email the commissioners and Sheriff before the meeting. Addresses and a sample email are below.
Come to the meeting on Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00 PM at 1130 Bluffs Parkway in Canton.
Bring a sign small enough to hold in your lap, and point it toward the commissioners.

What's new since our first article

On October 5 we published "$37 Million, Ten Years, One Vendor: What Cherokee County Needs to Know About the Sheriff's Axon Deal" and asked commissioners eleven questions. Since then, more documents have been posted with the agenda item: the contract addendum Axon signed on October 13, the county's procurement summary, and the Sourcewell contract the county is buying through. Together with Axon's quote, they answer some of our questions. The answers make the case against this deal stronger, and other questions are still open as the vote approaches.

What the county would pay

The first year costs $3,441,563, and that rate holds for five years. In year six it rises to $3,959,935.75 a year for the last five years. A one time $280,000 data conversion fee comes due in November 2027. That schedule is where the roughly $2.87 million gap we flagged on October 5 comes from, the difference between ten years at the first year rate and the $37.3 million total.

That's an average of about $3.73 million a year, or roughly $10,000 a day.

For scale, the county's general fund next year holds about $191 million and pays for the Sheriff's Office, the courts, and most everyday county services. To balance it, county leaders cut roughly $12 million, including about $550,000 from elections and about $330,000 from the courts. The first year of this Axon deal costs more than those two cuts combined. It also costs more than the roughly $3 million the county is spending on 57 new ambulance heart monitors, three new emergency response vehicles, and an ambulance rebuild combined.

Sheriff's Office spokesperson Capt. Jay Baker told the Cherokee Tribune the office now has 12 separate Axon contracts and pays Axon about $1.3 million a year. The first year of this deal is more than two and a half times that. Over the full term, the county would pay about $24 million more than it would by keeping today's spending pace for the same ten years.

Axon's quote claims "total savings" of $16,786,574.53, but it doesn't show how it gets that number, and the quote's own figures don't produce it. The quote lists an "unbundled" price of $52,507,530.83. Subtract the $37,287,493.75 contract price and you get $15,220,037.08, about $1.57 million less than the savings Axon claims. The county's procurement summary uses a different comparison, Axon's list price of $41,443,217.87, which puts the discount at $4,155,724.12, about 10 percent. Every one of these savings figures is measured against prices Axon set itself. None is measured against what the county pays now.

What $37 million buys

The agenda describes this as an agreement for "existing and future public safety technology." Axon's quote spells out what that means. The biggest pieces are these:

$15.7 million for Axon's Officer Safety Plan 10 Premium for 350 users. It covers body cameras, TASER 10 devices, unlimited evidence storage, virtual reality training, Fusus licenses, and a Dedrone counter drone trailer. Counter drone systems detect and track other drones in the air. This one uses radio frequency and optical sensors plus DedroneTracker.AI camera and radar software.
$8.2 million for Axon's "AI Era" plan for 350 users. Axon markets this plan with tools like Draft One, which writes first drafts of police reports from body camera audio. As we noted on October 5, the Electronic Frontier Foundation found it's hard to tell which parts of a Draft One report were written by AI. The packet doesn't say which AI tools the county would get for that $8.2 million.
$4.7 million to renew Fleet 3 in car cameras for 201 vehicles.
About $2.4 million in separate line items to move the Sheriff's records system onto Axon Records, including a $1.25 million milestone payment and the $280,000 data conversion.
A "drone as first responder" program, where drones launch from docking stations to calls, sometimes before officers arrive. It's built on Skydio X10 drones and includes docks with thermal sensors, plus years of maintenance and commissioning fees. Since 2021, Axon has been the exclusive reseller of Skydio drones to public safety agencies.
Two interview rooms with covert cameras and covert sensors.
A Fusus Core Elite AI unit with a 44 terabyte drive and licenses for 750 additional camera streams. Fusus, which Axon bought in 2024, pulls camera feeds from across a community, including private businesses and homes that opt in, into one law enforcement system.

Capt. Baker also told the Tribune that tasers would grow from 308 to 400, body cameras from 320 to 400, and car cameras from 200 to 230, and that a translation system tied to body cameras would be added.

Why (Seriously, Why THE FUCK) does one of Georgia's safest counties need this?

County leaders like to talk about how safe Cherokee is. The county's own website says Cherokee "has one of the lowest crime rates in metro Atlanta." The state's numbers back that up.

In the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's 2024 crime statistics report, Cherokee County had 6.37 reported index crimes per 1,000 residents. Index crimes are the major offenses the state tracks, including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The statewide rate was 19.59 per 1,000, so Cherokee's rate was about a third of Georgia's. Cobb County's rate was 14.45. Fulton County's was 29.95. Across a county of about 294,000 people, every law enforcement agency in Cherokee combined reported 275 violent crimes and 2 murders in 2024.

The Sheriff's Office isn't starting from scratch, either. It already uses Flock license plate readers, a Fusus camera registry, and Peregrine, and it began building a Real Time Intelligence Center in 2025.

This contract would add drones that launch to calls, counter drone radar, AI report writing, covert interview room cameras, and hundreds more camera feeds. That's a big city surveillance package for a county with a fraction of big city crime. Nobody has shown the public what crime problem it's supposed to solve. With crime this low and this technology already being abused, the one thing this contract clearly expands is the government's ability to watch the people who live here.

The "Product Swap" explained

In our first article we asked about an attachment titled "Product Swap_Outpost.Skydio." A clarification letter from Axon to Sheriff Frank Reynolds, now part of the contract, explains it. The letter removes Axon's fixed Outpost license plate reader cameras from the deal, the kind mounted on poles along roads, and spends the same amount, $599,848.44, on more Skydio drone equipment. Sheriff Reynolds told the Tribune the contract doesn't add plate reader cameras.

The main quote pages in the same packet still list the Outpost plate reader bundles, though. Fleet 3 car cameras can read plates too, and nothing in the packet says whether that feature is or will be turned on. Commissioners should know exactly which version they're approving.

Data sharing

The clarification letter also removes Axon's Customer Experience Improvement Program from the deal. That program shares Sheriff's Office content, stripped of identifying details, with Axon so the company can develop new products. Removing it is a good change. But the standard terms page later in the same packet still says that by signing, the county agrees to that program. Both can't be true.

Peregrine, the platform Woodstock tried to approve without discussion

The Sheriff's Office already runs Peregrine, an AI intelligence platform built by Peregrine Technologies, a San Francisco company founded by former Palantir employees. Peregrine powers the Sheriff's Real Time Intelligence Center. Peregrine's own case study says it links the Sheriff's records, jail management, and jail visitation systems with Georgia Department of Corrections data and data from partner agencies.

This summer Woodstock residents saw how joining that system works. An intergovernmental agreement to connect Woodstock Police Department records to the county's Peregrine system went on the City Council's July 27 consent agenda as Item 7.2. That meant it would pass in one motion with no presentation, discussion, or public comment. Hours before the vote, the county sent a revised version the City Attorney hadn't reviewed, while the public packet still held an earlier draft. The version residents could read set no limit on how long data is kept, required no audit log, and let the county set the price after year one with no cap.

Item 7.2 came off the agenda that night. City Manager Jeff Moon wrote that the revised agreement would come back as a regular agenda item with council review and public feedback. Woodstock residents should watch the City Council agendas for its return.

The Axon quote now includes an exception that reduces the records system payment by $50,000 "on account of expected cost for additional Peregrine integration to Axon RMS." RMS means records management system. In plain terms, the Sheriff's new Axon records system would be connected to Peregrine too. Commissioners should ask what Axon data would flow into Peregrine, including body camera, drone, and Fusus footage, and which outside agencies could see it.

No safeguards against misuse

We asked what audit and misuse safeguards would come with this deal, and whether people whose data was searched improperly would be told. The packet answers neither question.

The county's contract addendum adds breach notification, data retention rules, and a requirement that county data stay in the United States. Nothing in it limits how these tools can be used or requires audits.

That matters here. As we reported on October 5, four Cherokee Sheriff's Office employees, including a lieutenant and a sergeant, were arrested and fired this year over alleged misuse of license plate reader data. Each was charged with a felony count of violation of oath of office and a misdemeanor count of retaining license plate data, and each is presumed innocent. The Sheriff's Office found those cases through internal audits. The public still doesn't know whose plates were searched or whether those people were told.

It's happening across Georgia too. Atlanta News First has identified at least 20 Georgia cases in a single year of officers disciplined or charged over improper use of Flock plate readers. As we reported on October 5, they include Braselton's former police chief, who faces stalking and misuse charges, three Bibb County officers arrested in August 2026, and a Conyers dispatch supervisor charged after more than 30 improper searches.

Adding drones, AI, covert cameras, and hundreds more camera feeds without written limits asks the public to trust a system that has already been abused.

Thin procurement

We asked whether this contract was competitively bid. The county is buying through Sourcewell Contract #101223-AXN. Sourcewell is a Minnesota government cooperative that runs one bidding process and lets agencies nationwide buy from the winners without bidding on their own. The solicitation behind this contract was released in August 2023. The Sourcewell contract expires December 15, 2027, unless it's extended, and the county wants to use it to lock in a decade of spending.

The county's procurement summary lists Axon as the only vendor evaluated. Its own conclusion says confirmation of pricing and product eligibility under the Sourcewell contract "will be incorporated into the procurement record upon receipt." That confirmation wasn't in hand when the summary was written.

The paperwork has other problems:

The quote says the Sheriff's Office is terminating its existing Axon contracts effective October 1, 2026, weeks before any vote.
It offers 30 free fleet units if the county signs by December 30, 2025, a date that passed before the quote was issued on September 11, 2026.
The quote expires October 25, 2026, which pressures commissioners to approve it now.
Axon's vice president signed the contract on October 13.

We also asked about termination terms and why the deal runs ten years. The county's agenda request says switching away from Axon later "would require substantial replacement or duplication of existing equipment, software, integrations, training, administrative processes, and evidence management infrastructure." Under Georgia law the contract renews each fiscal year unless the county sends written notice at least 30 days before the year ends, so the county can legally leave. Ten years of deeper dependence on one vendor makes leaving harder every year.

Other communities pushed back and won

Public input has changed outcomes elsewhere. As we reported on October 5, the Pima County, Arizona Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 in January 2026 to reject an Axon contract amendment that would have extended that deal to 2036 and added AI software spending. In September 2026, Hays County, Texas commissioners voted 3 to 2 to remove a roughly $4.5 million Axon AI package from their budget after public pressure. Baltimore went the other way in May 2026, approving a no bid, ten year Axon contract worth about $153 million, and critics say alternatives could have saved money.

Cherokee commissioners can still choose to slow down. They need to hear from you first.

Email commissioners before the vote

Ask commissioners to vote no on Item 12.1, or to table it, which means postponing the vote, until the public gets clear answers on the AI tools, plate reading, data sharing, the Peregrine integration, and use and audit policies.

Chairman Harry Johnston, hjohnston@cherokeecountyga.gov
District 1 Commissioner Will Cagle, wcagle@cherokeecountyga.gov
District 2 Commissioner Richard Weatherby, rbweatherby@cherokeecountyga.gov
District 3 Commissioner Benny Carter, bcarter@cherokeecountyga.gov
District 4 Commissioner Corey Ragsdale, caragsdale@cherokeecountyga.gov
Sheriff Frank Reynolds, fareynolds@cherokeecountyga.gov

You can also call the Board of Commissioners office at 678 493 6001 or use the county's contact form for all commissioners at https://cherokeecountyga.gov/_focus/contacting-cherokee-county.php

A short email works. Here's one you can adapt:

Subject: Please vote no or table Item 12.1 (Axon contract)

Commissioner, I'm asking you to vote no on Item 12.1, the $37.3 million ten year Axon agreement, or table it. Cherokee's crime rate is about a third of Georgia's, according to the GBI, and nobody has explained what problem drones, AI, and hundreds more camera feeds are meant to solve. The packet also leaves basic questions unanswered. Which AI tools are in the $8.2 million AI Era plan? Will Fleet 3 plate reading be used? Is the county enrolled in Axon's data sharing program? What Axon data would flow into Peregrine, and who could see it? What audit and misuse safeguards apply? After this year's license plate reader misuse arrests, a decade of surveillance spending deserves answers first. Thank you.

Show up on Tuesday, October 20th

The meeting is on Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00 PM at the Cherokee County Administrative Complex, 1130 Bluffs Parkway, Canton, GA 30114.

General Public Comment is Item 9, which comes before the vote on Item 12.1. There's no separate public hearing for this contract, so public comment is the one chance to speak. Slots are limited. DeFlock Cherokee reports the first five in person speakers get three minutes each, so arrive early if you want to speak.

If you don't plan to speak, your presence still counts. Bring a sign small enough to hold in your lap, about letter or legal paper size, and point it toward the commissioners while you're seated. Some ideas: