Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend up to $20 million to buy thousands of G.L.O.V.E. conductive distraction and de-escalation devices from Compliant Technologies LLC by March, according to a Department of Homeland Security notice. The devices function as regular patrol gloves until a switch activates an electrical mode that must be applied directly to skin to deliver a pain stimulus the company says typically gains compliance within seconds. The gloves have been used in some jails and police departments; Compliant Technologies is in Lexington, Kentucky, and CEO Jeff Niklaus declined to comment. The solicitation could be issued as a no-bid contract as soon as Friday, the notice said. John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, called the stimulus “immediate and sharp” and said ICE’s planned purchase would likely be the company’s largest to date and could be used to remove uncooperative people from cars, houses and detention facilities. Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the public should have no confidence ICE will use the devices appropriately and questioned their need in civil immigration enforcement. The manufacturer warns the gloves should not be used as punishment, against mere verbal defiance or on children, pregnant women, elderly or disabled people.
