USA20 August, 20263 min read
Omaha Police Department Agrees To Stop Using G.L.O.V.E.s In Schools After Superintendent Request
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Omaha's public schools stopped police from using electric-shock gloves on students. Superintendent requested suspension of the program; police agreed to halt the equipment.
Omaha schools opt out
Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Ray asked police to stop using electric-shock gloves known as G.L.O.V.E.s or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters in middle and high schools, and the Omaha Police Department agreed this week to stop carrying the gloves in the district’s halls. The Associated Press investigation that revealed Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to give officers the gloves helped drive the decision, and Ray said he’d only learned about the gloves the previous week ahead of Wednesday’s first day of school. At a school board meeting Monday night, about 30 people spoke out against police using the gloves, and residents and board members said they were appalled at the practice.
Mayor John Ewing Jr. said police have honored the school district’s decision to “opt out,” while the Omaha Police Department said officers will continue to carry tasers, batons, OC spray and firearms. The Omaha Police Department said most of its 34 school resource officers had been trained and were allowed to use the gloves, and it described the devices as “the safest use-of-force option in the rare times when it is used.”
Two student incidents
Police said the gloves were used twice during the 2025-2026 school year, and Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Mayor John Ewing provided details about the two incidents. One deployment occurred at Omaha South High School when a student who was trespassing attempted to flee after allegedly fighting with a security guard, and police said the glove was applied to the student’s wrist for about two seconds while detaining him. The second incident took place at the district’s Integrated Learning Program, where police said a student made threats, threw a chair that struck a security guard, and punched the guard before the glove was deployed twice.
Omaha Central High School student Nora Wessel told the school board, “I can't even imagine walking down the hallway and seeing a peer of mine being electrocuted in a place that is supposed to be a safe space for students.” Ken Trump, president of the consulting firm National School Safety and Security Services, said before schools allow police to bring in technology like shock gloves, there should be a careful discussion of questions like how officers respond to students with disabilities or special medical needs, adding, “Less than lethal doesn’t mean low risk.”
Who keeps using them
While Omaha Public Schools stopped the practice, the Associated Press reported that Bellevue police, which patrols two Omaha schools, said its officers will continue carrying the gloves, and Bellevue schools spokeswoman Amanda Oliver said the district has a “great relationship” with Bellevue police and “doesn’t see a need to alter anything.” The AP also reported that three other large school districts in the metro area that have Omaha school resource officers assigned to their buildings had not taken action to stop police from using the devices. The Associated Press said students in all the Omaha area districts had gone back to class over the past two weeks, even as the policy shift affected most Omaha middle and high schools.
In a message to families, Superintendent Matthew Ray said continued use of GLOVEs would be “counterproductive to our work together,” and he said students “must be safe and feel safe.” The controversy also drew national political attention, with White House border czar Tom Homan defending the devices as “another device to help someone get compliant when they are not.”