ICE agents haven't even received their new electric gloves yet, and the outrage machine is already humming.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend up to $20 million on thousands of G.L.O.V.E. devices by March. The name stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. From the Associated Press:
The devices are known as the G.L.O.V.E., which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky. They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments.
DHS said Tuesday that it was working on a response to an Associated Press inquiry and offered no immediate comment. Jeff Niklaus, the founder and CEO of Compliant Technologies, wrote in an email, “Unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject.”
The notice said the solicitation for a no-bid contract could be published as early as Friday.
Civil rights advocates expressed alarm at the plan, saying ICE officers already face criticism for their use of force with little oversight or accountability while enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Compliant Technologies says the devices function as a normal pair of patrol gloves until officers press a switch to activate their electrical mode. The gloves must be applied directly to someone’s skin to deliver a pain stimulus that typically helps an officer gain compliance within seconds, according to the company.
Agents wear them as normal patrol gloves until activating an electrical function designed to gain control of a resisting person through direct skin contact.
It's an idea that deserves a fair look; an agent wrestling with a combative suspect needs options. A firearm brings deadly force; a Taser can miss, fail to penetrate clothing, or create other complications.
“It’s immediate and sharp, and it will distract you. I call it like a bee sting,” said John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, who is studying how the device has been used. “If the officer is getting any type of resistance from the person, this is certainly an effective tool.”
Peters said he believed ICE’s planned purchase would likely be the largest from the company to date. He said he could envision ICE officers using the gloves to help remove uncooperative subjects from cars and houses and in and out of detention facilities.
“For smaller officers or weaker officers or older officers, I think it has a great advantage” because it can produce faster takedowns and shorten confrontations, he said.
The manufacturer warns the device should not be used as punishment, against people merely exhibiting “verbal defiance or belligerence” or on high-risk populations such as children, pregnant women or elderly or disabled people.
The G.L.O.V.E. stays on the officer's hand and requires physical contact before delivering its electrical stimulus.
It's Kentucky manufacturer describes the device as a non-lethal de-escalation tool capable of gaining compliance within about three seconds. The company says it doesn't penetrate the skin or leave burns, marks, or scars. Those are manufacturer claims, and independent studies of the device remain limited. ICE should insist on strong training, reporting, and medical safeguards before widespread deployment.
ICE's own force policy already says officers should use force only when no reasonably effective, safe, and feasible alternative is available. A less-lethal device that could shorten a physical struggle seems worthy of evaluation under exactly such a policy.
Naturally, critics didn't wait long.
Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the ACLU, warned that ICE would be able to inflict electric shocks with the push of a button and called the gloves a "recipe for harm to the public."
Her concern centers partly on how discreetly the devices can be activated.
Accountability is fair; every use of force tool can be abused. Body-camera requirements, clear activation rules, medical screening, and mandatory reporting would help answer those concerns.
Condemning the tool merely because ICE might use it makes far less sense.
The manufacturer specifically warns against using the G.L.O.V.E. as punishment or simply because someone is verbally defiant. It also advises against its use on children, pregnant women, elderly people, and people with certain disabilities. Officers using it must be trained and recertified every two years.
Critics of immigration enforcement regularly accuse ICE agents of using excessive force. Here comes a device intended to give agents another choice when someone physically resists, potentially ending a struggle faster and reducing the need to escalate.
You would think exploring another less-lethal option might earn cautious approval.
Instead, ICE apparently remains guilty before the glove ever leaves the box.
Nobody should want federal agents shocking compliant detainees. Nobody should want agents forced into prolonged wrestling matches with combative suspects because politically fashionable outrage made another tool unacceptable.
Judge the G.L.O.V.E. by how safely it works, how carefully ICE regulates it, and how agents actually use it.
Giving officers more ways to end a dangerous confrontation without reaching for deadly force sounds like something worth trying.
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