Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is aiming to spend up to $20 million on equipping officers and agents with specialized gloves that deliver painful electric shocks. These plans were outlined in a notice published by the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, with an unspecified quantity of the devices set to be delivered by March 2027.
The electrified handwear outlined in the contract is the CTG 5 GLOVE (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), which manufacturer Compliant Technologies refers to as a CD3 (Conductive Distraction and De-escalation) device. Compliant Technologies describes it as “a great, humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution” that is “usually effective in bringing individuals into compliance in less than three seconds.”
The shock feature can be activated in a second using a switch located on the glove, which delivers a maximum voltage of up to 380V upon skin contact — closer to a dog’s shock collar than a taser device. Still, this “inhibits/ distracts the subject from performing coordinated muscle movement” according to the glove’s user guide. The same guide includes several warnings: Don’t use more than one pair on a single individual, don’t shock people for more than 15 seconds, and don’t use it against high-risk populations such as children, or people who are elderly, pregnant, or disabled.
Because the CD3 gloves are not immediately identifiable as a weapon, Compliant Technologies describes them as an “invisible partner” that can be used to enhance “established tactics, techniques and procedures,” and calls them “The New Protocol in Peace Keeping.” Similar gloves from the same company have already been used by select police departments and jails in recent years, and two corrections officers were charged in 2022 for beating and shocking an inmate in two separate attacks.
ICE has demonstrated it can wield power with little oversight or accountability, fueled by an administration that encourages rough tactics. It has shown up at people’s doors to intimidate them, used mass surveillance, and killed people in broad daylight. The agency’s new shocking gloves will just be a new way to hurt people.
The Associated Press reports that the Department of Homeland Security is working on a response to its press inquiries, but offered “no immediate comment” on the purchase plans. In a statement to the publication, Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, questioned why the devices would be necessary for civil immigration enforcement:
“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. Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”