MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Police Department has hundreds of body cameras waiting to be used, but the company that provided them, Taser International, is now at the center of a new legal battle.
Taser is being sued by one of its competitors, Digital Ally, for unfair and anti-competitive practices.
The lawsuit claims Memphis is one of the cities where Taser used bribes and compensation to win contracts without virtually any competition.
It even cites the hiring of the Marketing Firm owned by former Memphis Mayor A C Wharton’s campaign manager Deidre Malone as an example of incentives Taser used. The lawsuit sources reports that aired on WREG about the controversial decision to pay Malone $880,000for Marketing of the cameras.
WREG spoke with Malone by phone.
She said she has nothing to hide and her dealings with Taser were all above-board.
“Specifically regarding me and my firm, everything was very transparent. My meeting Taser was a part of what every certified business in the city was invited to,” said Malone.
Meanwhile, the City of Memphis isn’t commenting on the lawsuit.
As for the bidding process, WREG has learned that there were a number of other companies that did bid along with Taser to get the body-cam contract.
Most of those companies met a requirement Taser did not meet until after it won the contract, having 10-percent minority participation.
Taser still won out and was allowed to get minority participation on the back-end. Sources say it was because their camera equipment was so much better.
Digital Ally says it was something more, and now they want the federal court to intervene.
Memphis could be pulled right into the middle.
“If they reach out to me April, I will talk to them. I don’t have any problem talking to them. I don’t have anything to hide,” said Malone.
Taser International published a response on its website, calling the lawsuit frivolous and egregious.
The lawsuit also claims patent infringement.
