Deirdre Malone
The Carter Malone Group and Taser International have mutually agreed to cancel a contract for marketing services relating to the new Memphis Police Department body cameras.
The $880,147 subcontract with marketing firm Carter Malone made headlines this week because its president Deidre Malone also happens to be Mayor A C Wharton’s campaign manager. Malone would have been responsible for helping Taser promote its rollout of 2,000 body cameras for the MPD.
MPD Director Toney Armstrong announced last week that 50 officers are being trained with the cameras each day, and by early October, 500 officers will be using the cameras. By the end of the year, they should have 2,000 cameras deployed and operational.
Malone issued the following statement:
“The contract between The Carter Malone Group, LLC and Taser International has been cancelled effectively immediately by mutual agreement. I want to reiterate that nothing was done that can be considered unethical or improper. I stand by the fact that I obtained the contract based on my firm’s qualifications and body of work and not for any other reason.
I appreciate the support from the individuals and various organizations for me and my firm. It is truly unfortunate that a woman and minority-owned company, that has a track record like The Carter Malone Group, has to be subjected to the type of criticism and allegations that have been subjected upon my firm. The City has made some strides in increasing the percentage of women and minority-owned businesses doing business with the City. I believe under the continued leadership of Mayor A C Wharton that percentage will grow.”
