ICE Seeks Up to $20 Million for Conductive Compliance Gloves

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers encounter physical resistance during detentions and removals, and the agency now plans a procurement that would add a new conducted-energy tool to their options. A Department of Homeland Security acquisition notice published Monday outlines spending of up to $20 million on thousands of G.L.O.V.E. devices by March, with the no-bid solicitation possibly released as early as Friday.

The Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, made by Compliant Technologies LLC in Lexington, Kentucky, looks and functions like standard patrol gloves until a switch activates the electrical mode. Contact with skin delivers a short stimulus the manufacturer describes as comparable to a bee sting, intended to produce compliance within seconds. The company states the gloves have already been adopted by some police departments and jails.

John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, said the device can shorten confrontations and offers an advantage for smaller or older officers. He noted that officers must complete training and recertify every two years. The manufacturer specifies the tool should not serve as punishment, respond to verbal defiance alone, or be applied to children, pregnant women, elderly people, or those with disabilities.

A company representative declined to comment on the pending contract. Civil rights groups have questioned whether the devices are appropriate for civil immigration enforcement and whether existing oversight would prevent misuse. The notice provides no public data on prior deployment numbers or injury rates from agencies already using the gloves.