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DHS: ICE to spend up to $20 million on electric shock gloves for agents
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a procurement notice for ICE to spend up to $20 million on Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter (GLOVE) devices, which are gloves that deliver electric shocks to debilitate individuals during detention. The gloves have primarily been used in jails, but ICE agents have increasingly used force in street encounters and protests. The DHS describes the gloves as a de-escalation device, but critics, including the ACLU, argue they could intensify aggressive enforcement tactics and reduce accountability. The manufacturer warns against using the gloves on vulnerable populations such as the elderly, small children, pregnant women, and the severely handicapped. The size of the purchase suggests most or all ICE officers could receive the device.
Source report
What Happened
The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend up to $20 million to equip immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks to incapacitate individuals during detention attempts.
According to The Associated Press, local law enforcement has been using the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter (GLOVE) devices "more often in jails than in the streets, where ICE officers have increasingly used force to extract people from cars" and confront protesters.
Who Said What
The GLOVE user manual states the device can inhibit subjects from "performing coordinated muscle movement." NPR reported that demonstration videos "show it inflicting pain," with many police officers subjected to the device "grimacing or yelling, and almost all of them fall to the ground."
DHS describes the gloves as a "de-escalation device." However, The New York Times noted that "critics worry they could instead be used to intensify ICE's already-aggressive enforcement tactics."
The AP reported that GLOVE manufacturer Compliant Technologies warns the devices "should not be used in response to verbal defiance, or for punishment," nor "against some populations that ICE agents routinely encounter: the elderly, small children, pregnant women and the severely handicapped."
What Next
The AP noted that the "size of the purchase suggests ICE plans to give the device to most or all of its officers." In a statement, the ACLU's Jenn Rolnick Borchetta said ICE agents have already shown "they are willing to disregard the law and are too quick to use force, with devastating and at times fatal consequences." She added that adding gloves that can covertly shock people is "a recipe for more harm to the public and less accountability."
Source
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ICE Plans $20M Purchase of Electric Shock Gloves for Agents