ICE plans up to $20 million purchase of shock gloves for agents
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to spend up to $20 million on gloves that can deliver electrical shocks, a move that could soon
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to spend up to $20 million on gloves that can deliver electrical shocks, a move that could soon put a new kind of force tool in the hands of federal immigration agents.
The Department of Homeland Security posted the notice Monday, saying the devices — called CTG 5 G.L.O.V.E., short for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter — are meant to help officers “de-escalate” encounters. The contract preview says delivery would come by March 31, 2027. How many gloves DHS wants, what each one will cost and when agents would actually start using them remain unclear.
What the gloves do
The DHS portal describes the equipment as a “Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device” for Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations officers and agents. The manufacturer says the glove works like a regular patrol glove until an officer flips a switch to activate electrical mode.
Once activated, the glove must touch a person’s skin to deliver a pain stimulus. Compliant Technologies LLC, based in Lexington, Kentucky, says the shock is usually enough to bring someone into compliance in less than three seconds and leaves no burns, marks or scars. The company has also marketed it as a “humane, low-optics” option for difficult encounters.
Scrutiny over immigration arrests
The spending plan lands at a tense moment for agencies carrying out immigration arrests. Critics have accused enforcement officers of aggressive and dangerous tactics, while the Trump administration has pushed for roughly 2,000 arrests a day.
That backdrop gives the purchase a broader significance than a standard gear buy. For supporters, it is another compliance tool. For critics, it raises fresh questions about what counts as de-escalation when pain is built into the device.
ICE did not say in the notice how widely the gloves would be distributed, and the DHS preview gave no timeline for field use. The contract points instead to one concrete date: delivery by March 31, 2027.
