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ICE to buy shock gloves
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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 Department of Homeland Security procurement notice.
“ICE plans to spend up to $US20 million ($28 million) to purchase thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and agents by March”
The devices are known as the G.L.O.V.E. — “Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter” — and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies of Lexington, Kentucky, with DHS saying Tuesday it was working on a response to an Associated Press inquiry and offering no immediate comment.
The gloves are described as functioning like ordinary patrol gloves until officers press a switch to activate their electrical mode, and the company says they must be applied directly to someone’s skin to deliver a pain stimulus that typically helps an officer gain compliance within seconds.
John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, said, “It’s immediate and sharp, and it will distract you. I call it like a bee sting,” describing how the device has been used.
Civil rights advocates raised alarm that ICE officers already face criticism for their use of force with little oversight or accountability, and the plan comes as ICE faces scrutiny during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Critics warn of harm
Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the public should have no confidence that ICE officers would use the devices appropriately, warning, “Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”
Borchetta questioned why the devices would be necessary for civil immigration enforcement and noted those getting shocked might have no advance warning.
The manufacturer’s guidance, as described in the reporting, warns the device should not be used as punishment, against people merely exhibiting “verbal defiance or belligerence,” or on high-risk populations such as children, pregnant women or elderly or disabled people.
Supporters say the devices are generally used in specific jail and transport situations rather than broadly to patrol on the streets, and Compliant Technologies says they have been used to subdue violent suspects refusing to get into squad cars and inmates harming themselves and threatening officers.
The procurement notice also said the solicitation for a no-bid contract could be published as early as Friday, while DHS told the Associated Press it was preparing a response and offered no immediate comment.
Use-of-force scrutiny continues
The glove plan is being discussed alongside recent fatal encounters involving immigration agents, including the shooting death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, in his car near his home in the Maine city of Biddeford.
“At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since US President Donald Trump launched an immigration crackdown after taking office”
SMH.au also cited the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old, during a pursuit in Houston, and it noted that in January the U.S. was rocked by the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both American citizens, who were protesting ICE raids in Minneapolis during an enforcement blitz.
In the same reporting, Compliant Technologies said officers must complete a course and be recertified every two years to use the device, and it said the gloves must be applied directly to someone’s skin to deliver the pain stimulus.
The Washington Examiner framed the devices as “bee sting” electroshock gloves intended for de-escalation and said DHS plans to spend between $10 million and $20 million on generated low output voltage emitters by March, while also describing the company’s claim that the devices “are not a weapon.”
As the debate over ICE enforcement tactics continues, the plan would add another tool to immigration operations, with civil rights advocates arguing it could worsen concerns about oversight and accountability while supporters point to restricted use in controlled situations.
