ICE Moves to Spend $20 Million on High-Tech Gloves Capable of Shocking People, DHS Documents Reveal

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of high-tech gloves capable of delivering electric shocks to individuals.

According to a procurement notice published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a solicitation for a no-bid contract to acquire these devices could be released immediately, with distribution targeted as early as March 2027.

The devices are officially designated as the G.L.O.V.E., which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, engineered by Compliant Technologies LLC, a firm based in Lexington, Ky.

Outwardly, they look and function like standard law enforcement patrol gloves. However, an officer can press a concealed switch to activate an electrical charge.

When activated, the gloves can transmit up to 380 volts of electricity. The shock is delivered via direct skin-to-skin contact.

The manufacturer states it generates an immediate, sharp pain stimulus — comparable to a bee sting — to compel compliance within seconds.

“It’s immediate and sharp, and it will distract you. I call it like a bee sting,” John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, who is studying how the device has been used, told the Associated Press. “If the officer is getting any type of resistance from the person, this is certainly an effective tool.”

Proponents and training experts note that several domestic jails and local police departments have already deployed the devices.

Expected deployment scenarios for ICE include subduing violent suspects during processing or transport, managing uncooperative individuals refusing to enter transport vehicles, and removing resistant subjects from houses or vehicles during civil immigration enforcement actions.

Civil rights advocates are apoplectic about the development, as organizations like the ACLU warn that the low-profile switch allows officers to administer shocks with no warning or external accountability covertly.

Critics argue ICE already suffers from minimal oversight during enforcement campaigns.

“ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do,” ACLU deputy project director on policing Jenn Rolnick Borchetta said. “Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”

To carry and deploy the G.L.O.V.E., officers will be mandated to complete a specialized training course.

Re-certification is required every two years. Furthermore, manufacturer guidelines specify that the shock technology must not be used as a retaliatory punishment for verbal defiance.

When asked to comment on the gloves, Jeff Niklaus, the founder and CEO of Compliant Technologies, wrote to AP in an email, “Unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject.”