INDIANAPOLIS -- The city of Indianapolis wants a refund of $8.3 million on a public safety system never delivered as promised. The project pushed by then-Public Safety Director Frank Straub was riddled with delays and failures involving a contract signed back in 2012.
The legal team for Colossus Incorporated and N. Harris Computer Corporation filed paperwork on Friday July 29 asking a federal judge to take over the case, after the city filed its complaint in Marion County Superior Court 1 on July 5.
Per court documents, the city was looking for a replacement to the software systems which supports 911 dispatchers and public safety with up-to-date records.
The old system was to expire in December of 2014, so a contract was reached with North Carolina-based Colossus Incorporated also known as Interact Public Safety Systems.
The contract called for Interact to implement the system between September 2013 and September 2014. Court records show that Interact pushed back delivery dates several times, promising the system would be ready by October 1, 2015. That day would never come, after Interact disclosed it was having financial difficulties.
A new company, Ontario, Canada-based N. Harris Computer Corporation, completed the sale of Interact on March 10, 2015 and stepped in with hopes of completing the project by 2017.
The city decided to terminate the contract on December 14, 2015. Since then, a third-party vendor has picked up the dispatch and record systems while this lawsuit plays out.
The law firm representing Colossus Incorporated and N. Harris Computer Corporation believes this case belongs in federal court. Attorney Travis Montgomery explained in his filing “because this action is a civil action involving an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000 between parties of diverse citizenship.”
The city citing breach of contract, and unjust enrichment wants a judgment of $8.3 million.
