Bargain Hunting? Taser Protests After Losing Body Cam Contract To NYPD

The New York Police Department recently struck a deal to supply its officers with body cameras for $6.4 million, about 70 percent less than what TASER International Inc TASR, widely considered to have been a shoe-in to win the contract, has been awarded in similar arrangements.

The NYPD opted to procure thousands of body cameras for its officers from Vievu, a privately-held subsidiary of Safariland, and competitor to Taser. The stock price of the on-officer wearable camera developer has yet to recover from this news.

Taser Takes Issue

In a protest letter obtained by Benzinga, legal counsel for Taser protested the procurement decision to the NYPD commissioner ahead of an October 13 hearing regarding the Vievu contract.

In the letter, counsel for Taser highlighted the company's disappointment.

"TASER is concerned that the NYPD is making a grave error that will endanger officers and members of the public and undermine the trust that is essential to successful policing. TASER hopes that, through this protest, the NYPD will be able to rectify its decision."

Of Costs And Contracts

Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Glenn Mattson estimated the cost of Vievu's contract at $20 per camera per month, about half the cost he estimated for Taser's cameras.

But even here, the advantages of Vievu over Taser are called into question.

Amid mentions of alleged integrity issues and questions of Vievu's adherence to procedural rules in pursuing the contract, Taser's letter asserts that there are a number of "hidden costs" that would easily put the full cost of a Vievu contract several million dollars beyond what Taser would have offered the department.

Over the full five years of the contract, these costs are said to include:

• $2.39 million added cost for Geo-Redundant Storage.
• A charge for immediate access to data over 30 days old - Taser estimates the five-year cost of this at $2.72 million.
• Chain of custody tracking and redaction tools - $1,500 per license annually
• With these costs added to the $6.4 million, Taser sees the total cost of the Vievu contract at or above the $12 million contract it proposed to the NYPD.

The City Of New York Responds

For its part, the NYPD issued the following statement to Benzinga when asked about its choice of Vievu:

"After a long and vigorous selection process which included a 9 person evaluation committee Vievu was chosen as the best body camera option for the NYPD."

Also, during an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn late Thursday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio wasn't swayed by criticism of Vievu.

"Vievu is not a startup. They're a highly established firm that has been in this field for years, it's really easy to know that," said de Blasio.

Offer Of Free Cams Fail To Change Focus

On the heels of the NYPD's choice of Vievu, Taser publicly announced it would be willing to offer 1,000 of its body cameras to the department free of charge in order to allow them to be field tested, with hopes this would prove they were more deserving of the contract.

Equally confident in its offerings, Vievu matched the offer during Thursday's hearing. Vievu's Vice President and General Manager is reported to have said Vievu would be happy to provide 1,000 free cameras if the NYPD so desired.

Asked whether it would be accepting either offer of free cameras, the NYPD told Benzinga, "We will not be filed [sic] testing any of the body cameras."

Vievu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After trading near its year-to-date highs, Taser stock is still down about 20 percent from where it stood before news of the NYPD contract decision. It closed Friday up 3.08 percent at $22.77.