Bribery alleged in body cam deal

Taser competitor cites Memphis and other cities

A rival manufacturer claims in a lawsuit that Memphis’ police body cameras supplier bribed officials in six cities — including Memphis — to get lucrative city contracts.

Body ca meras sup - plier Digital Ally on Feb. 2 amended a patent infringement lawsuit against competitor Taser International to include the briber y accusation . Digita l Ally’s lawyer, Jim Daniels, said his client will “almost certainly” seek records from the city related to the contracts, and would “likely” depose anyone involved.

In the lawsuit, which was first filed in U.S. District Court of Kansas in Ja nua r y, Ka nsas-based Digital Ally claimed Taser sweetened a deal last year to provide Memphis with 2,000 body cameras by hiring a marketing firm owned by Deidre Malone, who at the time was running the reelection cam- paign of then-mayor A C Wharton. Taser will get $9.4 million if the contract is extended over the full five-year term.

Digital Ally cited news reports about an $880,147 subcontract with Malone’s firm, which was canceled in October. But the suit doesn’t provide any new, hard evidence to back up its claim.

Jim Daniels, Digital Ally’s attorney, said that evidence could surface during the discovery phase of the lawsuit.

“The facts are, they do speak for themselves,” he said of the news reports.

Malone decli ned to comment other than to say, “It they ask me, I’ll def i nitely provide a ny documents that I have.”

In addition to Memphis, Digita l Ally said Taser gave bribes consisting of “compensation or other things of value” to Albu- querque, New Mexico; Ft. Worth, Texas; New Orleans; Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Salt Lake City. Taser hasn’t been indicted on any federal bribery-related charges. Digital Ally is seeking court-ordered reimbursement from Taser for “lost profits, costs and expenses,” among other financial compensation.

The lawsuit pulls together media reports and government audits from around the country in an attempt to show that Taser has sweetened its no-bid city contracts in various ways, including by hiring retiring police chiefs and giving all-expenses paid training trips.

Toney Armstrong, who retired as police director at the end of January to take a job at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, was invited to a conference last year by Taser. Another city official responded, asking Taser not to send any invitations during contract negotiations.

A rmstrong sa id Wednesday he did not accept any invitations to attend conferences through Taser.

When Taser and Malone broke off their agreement, Taser said Malone didn’t disclose her role, and that she was hired after Taser had been chosen by the city.

Taser officials said in a statement Wednesday that Memphis determined the company offered the best solution in a competitive bid

“We patently deny the f r ivolou s a c c u s at ion s by Digital Ally and we’ll address their claims appropriately in the court room,” Taser’s statement said

harton has said he wasn’t told about the subcontract and denied any wrongdoing.

The body ca meras’ rollout was put on hold in January by Mayor Jim Strickland.