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No-bid purchase moves forward
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $16.7 million no-bid contract to buy 6,000 pairs of gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks, according to a federal contracting notice reviewed by the Associated Press and Reuters.
The contract with Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies LLC covers the devices, support equipment and related services over the next six months. ICE calls the equipment a conductive distraction and de-escalation device and says it is intended for Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations personnel.
The finalized award is a material development from the agency's earlier plan to spend up to $20 million on the technology. The contract notice does not mean every ICE officer will immediately receive a pair; training, distribution and agency policy will determine when and how the devices enter service.
Read the source: Associated Press: ICE awards $16.7 million electric-shock glove contract ↗
How the gloves work and how ICE says they may be used
The devices function as ordinary patrol gloves until an officer activates their electrical mode. They must contact bare skin to produce a pain stimulus intended to interrupt a person's response and help an officer gain control, according to reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters.
ICE's contracting notice says officers may use the gloves in high-tension situations, including arrests, the transportation of combative detainees and civil disturbances outside detention facilities. The agency says the goal is to control resistance while avoiding more severe force, including firearms.
The notice says the equipment will be used under approved policy, training and accountability standards, but the public version reported Thursday did not provide detailed rules governing activation, documentation, internal review or discipline for misuse.
Read the source: Reuters: ICE grants contract for 6,000 pairs of electric-shock gloves ↗
Civil-rights groups and senators raise concerns
The American Civil Liberties Union has warned that the gloves could give agents a concealed way to inflict severe pain with limited visibility or accountability. That is an attributed concern, not a finding that ICE has already misused devices that have not yet been broadly deployed under this contract.
Earlier Thursday, a group of 16 senators led by Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto urged ICE to cancel the purchase. Their letter questioned whether the agency had established adequate limits, training and oversight and asked ICE to disclose how uses of the gloves would be recorded and reviewed.
Supporters of the technology argue it could help officers control resistant people without resorting to deadly force. White House border czar Tom Homan has said deployment will take months because ICE is still developing training and policy details, the Associated Press reported.
What remains unknown
ICE has not publicly released a detailed nationwide deployment schedule or a complete use-of-force policy specific to the gloves. It also has not said how many devices will go to investigators, deportation officers, detention operations or crowd-control assignments.
The contract itself does not resolve whether Congress or courts will impose new restrictions. Lawmakers may seek additional records, funding limits or statutory safeguards, while civil-rights organizations could challenge particular uses if they believe constitutional or statutory rights were violated.
What's the Scoop With Broach will update this report when ICE publishes its training and accountability rules, announces deployment locations or Congress takes formal action on the purchase.
Read the source: Wikimedia Commons: Public-domain ICE officer photograph ↗
Sources and further reading
Associated Press: ICE awards $16.7 million electric-shock glove contract ↗
Reuters: ICE grants contract for 6,000 pairs of electric-shock gloves ↗