ICE Is Buying Stun Gloves For Officers Because They’re Just Not Injuring/Killing Enough Migrants

from the whatever’s-more-cruel-or-unusual-I-guess dept

The administration has no legitimate justification for this action. It’s all about inflicting as much literal pain as possible on anyone ICE officers happen to encounter.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks intended to gain compliance from combative individuals.

ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and agents by March, according to a notice published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security.

It’s a Taser but it’s a glove. It’s something hardly anyone in law enforcement has ever needed. And yet, there’s a $20 million no-bid contract that is going to make (lol) Compliant Technologies that much richer. Compliant Technologies describes the G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter) this way [all quotation marks in the original]:

The G.L.O.V.E. quickly transforms into a CD3 (Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device) when used within the Force Continuum to supplement existing tools for law enforcement, corrections, security, EMS and the military. It is available as an “invisible partner” to enhance the user’s effectiveness when operating within their agencies’ already established tactics, techniques and procedures. This is why we call the G.L.O.V.E. the “Force Multiplier” and how it operates within the Force Continuum as “The New Protocol in Peace Keeping.”

Oh my. “Force multiplier.” “Invisible partner.” “New Protocol in Peace Keeping.” That’s a whole lot of jargon right there. It’s an ambush tactic (a glove with a juiced up joy buzzer inside) that will definitely be a “force multiplier” (if by “force,” you mean “excessive”) in/on the hands of ICE officers.

I mean, they’re really not showing any restraint now, whether they’re raiding flea markets, subjecting migrants to continuous rights violations in ICE detention facilities, or straight up murdering people in the streets.

I’m not kidding. It’s basically Taser, but in glove form. The user’s manual (embedded below in case the company decides to make it disappear) compiled by Compliant Technologies even uses Taser’s jargon for “but the person died of something other than continuous electric shocks:”

AGITATED CHAOTIC EVENT (ACE) PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS EXCITED DELIRIUM SYNDROME (EXDS) AND SUICIDAL CONSIDERATIONS

Compliant Technologies does not prescribe any protocols for using a CD3 device in a situation involving an ACE or suicidal people. It is the responsibility of the officer to deal with these cases according to their agency’s protocols and procedures.

Yeah, that ought to keep the blood off Compliant’s hands. (But not so much the ICE officers whose electro-gloves may now be covered in the blood of people who’ve had the privilege of being subjected to the “new protocol in peacekeeping.”)

The manual makes it clear there will be plenty of opportunity for “friendly fire:”

It is recommended to have an additional officer on scene to cuff/restrain while the G.L.O.V.E. is being deployed. Always advise other officers of G.L.O.V.E. deployment by saying, “G.L.O.V.E. ON!”

Hmmm. I wonder how many times be-GLOVEd officers’ “GLOVE on!” shouts will be misheard as something about a gun. Shout that phrase loud and fast with as much “rapidly-evolving situation” tension as you can apply. The hard G alone will probably be enough to bring multiple ICE firearms into the firing position. Repeating the phrase for clarity will probably just make ICE officers believe they misheard correctly the first time.

To date, almost every user of this device is someone working in a correctional facility where this probably makes a bit more sense. I’m not saying there’s any reason for these gloves to exist at all, but when you’re trying to subdue someone while surrounded by convicted criminals, any help is probably appreciated.

As for any comments from ICE about officers receiving appropriate training before being given a pair of stun gloves, the agency can go fuck itself. It’s been on a hiring spree since Trump took office. To maintain the number of officers needed to make the administration’s bigots happy, ICE has gutted its training program and lowered its hiring standards.

And even if officers are receiving the full load of training, it’s hardly specific to the roving-gang-of-masked-thugs work most officers are doing now. Prior to everyone calling for ICE’s abolishment, ICE spent most of its time seizing things, rather than people — something one would expect from a customs enforcement agency. For years, immigration problems were largely handled by the agencies that dealt with the largest number of immigrants: CBP and the Border Patrol.

Adding this to the arsenal just means more people are going to be seriously injured or killed. It will do absolutely nothing to make ICE better, more efficient, or capable of meeting sky-high arrest quotas. The misanthropes running this government are apparently just googling up whatever new means of pain/torture they can get their hands on/in. We can only hope a lot of officers will forget they still have their gloves engaged when doing things like adjusting their masks or scratching their balls.

Filed Under: cruelty, dhs, excessive force, ice, mass deportation, police violence, trump administration

Companies: compliant technologies