ICE Agents Could Soon Be Wearing Electric Shock Gloves

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could soon take to the streets equipped with gloves that deliver painful electric shocks to combative arrest targets.

The federal government plans to spend up to $20 million on thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” by March, according to the Associated Press and a Monday Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice.

The technology, known as G.L.O.V.E., or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, has been used by other law enforcement agencies across the country to control violent suspects inside jails and in the field.

It comes as sources within ICE have described an uptick in violence by the individuals they’re trying to arrest. Since the Trump administration commenced its mass deportation campaign, ICE agents have faced a 1,300% surge in assaults and a 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, according to DHS.

One agency source told The Daily Wire the new technology could serve as a useful deterrent during arrests.

“I think if people knew we had those it would definitely keep people from pushing and getting in our faces,” the source said.

The company behind the product, Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies LLC, says the gloves are “not a weapon, but a device used to quickly distract with small uncomfortable electrical pulses” when making contact with skin.

“The discomfort associated with the stimulation is usually effective in bringing individuals into compliance in less than three seconds and leaves no burns, marks or scars,” Compliant Technologies states on its website.

“The technology is safe as it does not penetrate the subject’s body; while also allowing other officers to grab the individual being stimulated with no fear of feedback into their bodies. CD3 technology is a great, humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution for many situations facing our men and women in uniform today,” the company says.

The shocks can’t pass through clothing, hair, metal, plastic, or fur, according to the company.

Agents must complete a training course before using the gloves and get re-certified to operate them every two years, according to Compliant Technologies’ website.

A contract solicitation for the proposed rollout is expected to be published on Friday, according to the DHS notice.