WASHINGTON, D.C. – Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving ahead with a $16.7 million purchase of 6,000 pairs of electric-shock gloves designed to help federal officers gain control of resisting suspects and combative detainees.
Supporters describe the gloves as another tool for officers confronting dangerous people. Democratic lawmakers and civil-rights advocates see a weapon ripe for abuse.
The CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E.—short for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter—looks and functions like an ordinary patrol glove until an officer activates its electrical mode. When the glove touches exposed skin, it sends electrical pulses into the person’s body, causing intense pain intended to stop resistance and compel compliance.
Unlike a Taser, the glove does not fire barbed probes from a distance. The officer must be close enough to place a hand directly on the person. That allows an officer to maintain physical control while applying the shock.
ICE says the gloves could help officers restrain people who refuse to show their hands, remove resisting suspects from vehicles, control combative detainees during transportation and prevent aggression or escape attempts. The agency also envisions their use during disturbances outside detention facilities.
The law-enforcement case is straightforward: If an officer can quickly control a dangerous or resisting person with the glove, the confrontation may end without a baton strike, firearm or other more severe force. White House border czar Tom Homan has defended the devices on those grounds, describing them as an intermediate option between verbal commands and lethal force.
The Department of Homeland Security similarly argues that denying officers such equipment could place them in greater danger.
Democrats are not persuaded.
Sixteen Democratic senators urged ICE to cancel the purchase, raising questions about medical safety, constitutional rights, training and oversight. Democratic House members and civil-rights organizations have also warned that officers could use the gloves unnecessarily against immigrants, protesters or other people who pose no immediate threat.
The critics point to past allegations involving the device. A pending lawsuit concerns the death of a Kentucky jail detainee who was allegedly shocked 27 times with the gloves and 13 additional times with a Taser. An internal investigation reportedly found that two glove applications greatly exceeded the manufacturer’s recommended duration. The lawsuit has not established that the gloves caused the man’s death.
The manufacturer also warns against using the devices on certain vulnerable people, including young children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with particular disabilities.
ICE says deployment will be governed by approved policies, training and accountability standards, although the agency has not publicly detailed all those safeguards.
The purchase is now more than a proposal. ICE awarded a no-bid contract to Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies LLC for the 6,000 pairs, related equipment and services.
Iowa’s most prominent elected officials have apparently remained silent. No public statement on the purchase could be found from Gov. Kim Reynolds, Attorney General Brenna Bird, Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, or Iowa’s four U.S. House members. No prominent Iowa Democrat appears to have publicly addressed it either.
That leaves the national divide clearly drawn: ICE and the administration say the gloves will help officers snare resisting suspects without resorting to deadlier force. Democrats fear the same technology will make it easier for federal agents to inflict pain without sufficient oversight.