Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have killed dozens of people during Trump’s second term, including the high-profile killings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. So naturally, the agency is looking for ways to improve safety…for its own officers. One such way, according to a report from 404 Media, is the purchase of Boston Dynamics’ dog-shaped robots.
Per an announcement published in the US federal government’s Acquisition Planning Forecast System, ICE plans to purchase the company’s SPOT robots to “support public safety and law enforcement operations by providing a remotely operated robotic capability for inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment in environments that may pose risks to personnel.” The agency claims that having the bots in its arsenal “helps improve officer safety, supports informed operational decision-making, and enhances DHS’s ability to respond to incidents involving dangerous, confined, unstable, or difficult-to-access areas.”
ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, plans to spend between $1 million and $2 million on the purchase, which should get the agency a small fleet of the four-legged robots. Boston Dynamics quadrupeds reportedly currently sell for around $75,000 a pop.
DHS and ICE are far from the first arms of law enforcement to tap Boston Dynamics’ dogbots. A number of police forces across the country have purchased the machines and deployed them for a variety of purposes—perhaps the grossest of which comes from the Honolulu Police Department, which used SPOT to farm out the task of interacting with the city’s homeless population. Most citizens rightfully find the bots to be a troubling presence rather than one that signals safety, and some cities like New York have canceled their contracts with Boston Dynamics amid public pushback.
But being responsive to public feedback, instilling a sense of peace and safety, and having literally any sense of shame are not really tenets of ICE. The agency is instead more interested in arming itself with every bit of weaponizable technology available (though, lord willing, they don’t actually arm these things).
News of ICE’s plans to purchase the quadruped companions comes just days after it came to light that the agency had awarded a $16.7 million contract to a company called Compliant Technologies to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that deliver electric shocks. According to a report from the Associated Press, the agency plans to equip officers with the gloves to be used to control detainees in ICE facilities and protesters who resist agents. The only thing less shocking than the gloves is that the agency thinks this is a good idea.
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