IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Abandoning a practice that has faced criticism, Taser International will no longer hire police chiefs with whom it has business relationships within weeks or months after they leave public service.
The maker of police stun guns and body cameras announced Thursday it would require a one-year “cooling off period” before entering into consulting contracts with former law enforcement officials to promote their experiences using Taser equipment.
The change follows New Mexico’s scathing state audit report Thursday that found Taser hired Albuquerque police chief Ray Schultz days after he stepped down in 2013 – even as he remained on the city payroll. The Associated Press reported in March on similar arrangements between the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company and former Fort Worth, Texas, police chief Jeffrey Halstead and former New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas.
In all three cases, their departments had signed major contracts with Taser to purchase body cameras and video storage software, Evidence.com. Within months, the former chiefs were paid to travel and speak about how those tools were the future of policing to other municipal officials at Taser-sponsored technology summits around the country and, occasionally, the world.
Many cities and states already have ethics codes that call for a one- or two-year cooling off periods before departing officials can work for vendors.