ICE planning to buy electric shock gloves
By: Jennifer Borresen
and George Petras
USA Today
..... They're similar to tasers - though they're lower in power and don't break the skin - and in early 2027 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may be wearing battery-powered gloves capable of deliverymen brief but painful electric shocks.
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ICE plans to spend $10 million to $20 million in 2027 to buy thousands of the electric gloves for its officers, according to an august 10 [2026] announcement by the Department of Homeland Security.
..... They look like ordinary patrol gloves, but they deliver an electric shock only when they're activated by the wearer and the glove's palm is in direct contact with bare skin. Recipients don't pass out, but the pain can compel them to cooperate with officers.
..... The device, known as a G.L.O.V.E. - Generated Low Output Voltage emitter - deliver an electric jolt of up to 380 volts. by comparison, the maximum output of a Taser X26 is about 1,200 volts, though outputs can differ depending on the model, according to the National Library of Medicine.
..... It's also different form a taser in that it does not have probes or needles that attach to the skin, according to manufacturer Compliant Technologies in Lexington, Kentucky. It doesn't affect the body's venous system, only the area it touches, according to the company. The glove causes pain and distraction thorough sustained physical contact. John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-custody Deaths, told the Guardian it;s like a bee-sting.
..... Tasers are designed to incapacitat4e muscles through pulsed current generated between probes.
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The current generated by the electric gloves "is so low that stimulation can't occur through clothing, hear, metal, plastic or fur," the company says. The device should not be used on elderly people, small children, pregnant women or the severely disabled, according to the product's manual. The manual also says the electric gloves"shall not" be deployed in response to verbal defiance or belligerence, a punishment in torture or for horseplay.
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The gloves have not been widely used by police departments, according to the New York Times, but some have been deployed by county law enforcement and jails in the United States.
..... ICE appears to be the first federal agency planning to use the glove. They will be issued to Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, according to Axios. Eric King, a spokespeople for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said in a statement that the civil rights group is "deeply concerned by plans to provide ICE agents with another tool capable of inflection pain on people in their custody or during enforcement encounters."
..... DHS respond with an emailed statement attributed to a spokesperson.
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"ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our offices in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens form our country," the agency said. "Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensures that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards."
..... Contributing: Monre Trombly, Louisville Courier Journal; Reuters