ONTARIO, Calif., Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Safariland
Group, the parent company of VIEVU®, a leader in
body-worn video and digital evidence management, today announced
that VIEVU has filed a complaint against TASER International, Inc.
(NASDAQ: TASR) in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa
County. The complaint, which alleges that TASER maliciously
interfered with VIEVU's contract award for body-worn cameras by the
City of Phoenix (the "City"),
illustrates how TASER persistently violated the City's procurement
and ethical rules through illegal communications, leading the City
to disqualify TASER from consideration of the award.
In March 2016, VIEVU, along with
eight other bidders including TASER, submitted proposals in
response to the City's 2016 request-for-proposal ("2016 RFP") for a
body-worn camera contract. The proposals were evaluated by a
committee that included members of the Phoenix Police Department, which reviewed and
scored the bidders on four criteria: Method of Approach (350
points); Testing (250 points); Experience and Qualifications (200
points); and Cost (200 points). After nearly six months of
assessment, the City publicly announced in September 2016 that VIEVU was the "highest
scored" bidder and recommended recipient of the City's body-worn
camera contract. VIEVU scored 88 points higher than TASER, its
nearest competitor, with a price that was more than $2.3 million lower than TASER's. As part of the
process, a losing bidder had seven days to file a protest to the
contract recommendation; no bidders, including TASER, filed a
protest. The City and VIEVU then fully negotiated the terms of the
contract, which was subject to final approval by the City Council
in October 2016.
In its complaint, which seeks compensatory, punitive and/or
exemplary damages, pre- and post-judgment interest and fees and
costs, VIEVU alleges:
- TASER's illegal scheme to interfere with VIEVU's contract
violates the Transparency Policy and City Code:
- Knowing there was no legitimate basis to protest VIEVU's award,
TASER mounted an improper and illegal campaign to influence the
City to cancel VIEVU's award;
- TASER subsequently escalated its lobbying efforts to ensure the
City would not award VIEVU its contract;
- As part of this lobbying effort, TASER engaged in improper
communications with the Phoenix
Police Chief and Assistant Police Chief;
- The City shortly thereafter disqualified TASER from further
consideration of the award of the body-worn camera contract for
violating the City's Solicitation Transparency Policy;
- The City emphasized that TASER was well aware of the City's
procurement rules, yet ignored them nonetheless; and
- The City admonished TASER that any and all future contact
regarding the 2016 RFP must go through the City's Procurement
Officer.
- TASER has ignored the City's direction to stop violating the
Transparency Policy and instead launched a persistent and illegal
attack against VIEVU:
- TASER and its CEO subsequently "doubled-down" on TASER's
strategy to unlawfully influence the City;
- TASER engaged Williams & Associates and Mike Williams as lobbyists with the City;
- As part of these lobbying efforts, TASER offered free cameras,
supporting software, storage and training for one year;
- The City promptly rejected the offer, stating that it was
"intended to improperly influence the City to choose TASER's
equipment" after TASER had been disqualified;
- Undeterred by the disqualification, TASER actively and
improperly influenced the City Council to reject the results of the
2016 RFP; and
- TASER's illegal and unethical conduct eventually succeeded and
the City cancelled the 2016 RFP without offering any reason for its
decision.
VIEVU issued the following statement regarding its lawsuit:
"VIEVU is committed to providing
best-in-class body-worn cameras and video technologies for law
enforcement agencies across the country. We are proud to have been
selected, through a competitive and public process, as the
recommended recipient of the body-worn camera contract for the
City of Phoenix. TASER has a
well-documented history of unlawful and unethical public
procurement practices, and the steps we are taking today are
necessary to not only protect our leading franchise but also the
integrity of these vital procurement processes relating to a matter
of significant public importance. TASER's conduct in this matter
demonstrated a blatant and willful disregard for the rules and
makes a mockery of spirit and letter of every regulation
Phoenix put in place to ensure
fairness. Moreover, once caught and called out by the press, TASER
resorts to retroactive statements about a questionable policy of
offering cameras free to major market agencies, despite there being
no evidence they have done so in any case other than New York City, where it is illegal to offer
free gifts to agencies from whom one is seeking business, and in
Phoenix, where the City noted that
if Phoenix tried this stunt again
would be disbarred from doing business with the City. We value our
relationship with Phoenix and its
Police Department, with whom we have worked with since 2012, and
look forward to a swift and just resolution of this matter."
About VIEVU
VIEVU® is a leading provider of
body-worn camera and video technologies, providing secure,
high-quality video cameras for law enforcement, security, emergency
medical services, first responders and retailers. The VIEVU
Solution, the company's next generation fully-hosted cloud evidence
management system, is built on Microsoft® Azure
Government Cloud, the first enterprise cloud to directly support
the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division. VIEVU was
the first provider of body-worn cameras with Automated Video
Redaction technology, a highly advanced redaction tool built to
automatically blur faces and objects recorded on body-worn cameras,
without user involvement, in order to protect the privacy and
identity of victims, innocent bystanders, minors and undercover
police officers. Built on police experience, VIEVU technology is
used by thousands of law enforcement agencies in 17 countries.
VIEVU received the highest score in an evaluation of body-worn
video by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For information
please visit www.vievu.com.
About The Safariland Group
The Safariland Group is a
leading global provider of a broad range of safety and
survivability products designed for the public safety, military,
professional and outdoor markets. The Safariland Group offers a
number of recognized brand names in these markets including
Safariland®, Med-Eng®, ABA®, Second Chance®, VIEVU®, Mustang
Survival®, Bianchi®, Break Free®, Protech® Tactical, Defense
Technology®, Hatch®, Monadnock®, Identicator® and NIK®. The
Safariland Group's mission, "Together, We Save Lives", is inherent
in the lifesaving and protective products it delivers. The
Safariland Group is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The Safariland Group is
a trade name of Safariland, LLC.
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SOURCE VIEVU