Officers must be trained and certified to use the gloves, with recertification required every two years, according to the device manufacturer.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that can deliver electric shocks for its agents, according to a notice published by the Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 10.
The devices, known as CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E, or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, are expected to be delivered by March 31, 2027, according to the notice.
The notice refers to the gloves as “conductive distraction and de-escalation” devices, which ICE seeks to buy for Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations officers and agents.
The device manufacturer, Compliant Technologies, states on its website that the devices were designed “to supplement existing tools for law enforcement, corrections, security, EMS [Emergency Medical Services] and the military.”
The devices must be applied directly to someone’s skin and are ineffective through clothing or hair, according to the user manual. No more than two gloves should be used at a time, with each application lasting not more than 15 seconds, it states.
Compliant Technologies said the gloves should not be used to respond to “verbal defiance or belligerence,” as punishment or for torture. The company also warned against using them on children, elderly people, pregnant women, or people with disabilities.
The manual also recommends that the gloves be deployed as necessary to “accomplish lawful objectives within the scope of the agency’s policies” when a suspect becomes violent to the point of endangering the officer or the public.
Officers must be trained and certified to use the gloves, with recertification required every two years, according to the manual.
