US Homeland Security to spend up to $20 million on electric-shock gloves for ICE agents
The Department of Homeland Security announced a planned purchase of CT-G5 G.L.O.V.E. devices, costing between $10 million and $20 million, to be used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for distraction and de-escalation.
The Department of Homeland Security said it will allocate between $10 million and $20 million to acquire CT-G5 G.L.O.V.E. electric-shock gloves for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, with the contract expected to be finalized by March 2027. The gloves, already used by some jails and police departments, deliver up to 380 volts to produce a brief, uncomfortable pulse intended to distract a subject and inhibit coordinated muscle movement.
ICE officials are required to distribute the devices within the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations divisions. The manufacturer, Compliant Technologies, describes the gloves as a “humane” tool that does not penetrate the body and can be used without risk of feedback to the officer, though it advises against use on vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, pregnant individuals and those with severe disabilities. Users must complete a training course and be recertified biennially.
Rights groups have criticized the purchase, warning it could increase the risk of harm to protesters and detainees. > "This is a rogue agency with an $80 billion slush fund that allows them to concoct and fund new ways to visit cruelty upon our communities," said Kica Mantos, president of the National Immigration Law Center. > "Arming poorly trained agents with electric shock gloves to inflict pain on our neighbors is disgusting and barbaric."
The department did not respond to requests for comment, and Compliant Technologies declined to discuss the contract further. The notice, listed as a no-bid contract, could be published by Friday.