U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of electric-shock gloves for its officers and agents. According to a notice published by the Department of Homeland Security, the agency aims to acquire the devices by March. The equipment, known as Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters (Glove), is manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky.
The gloves are designed to gain compliance from combative individuals and detainees by delivering painful electric shocks. The devices must be applied directly to a person's skin to deliver the stimulus, which the manufacturer says is usually effective in bringing individuals into compliance in less than three seconds. This move comes as President Donald Trump intensifies his mass arrest and deportation drive.
The plan has been criticized by U.S. Democrats and civil rights advocates as unnecessary and cruel. Former DHS officials have also stated that the devices are not necessary as an enforcement method against civilians and warned that their use would pose numerous risks.