U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to equip officers with shock gloves is concerning.
The device, known as the CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E., is described by the Department of Homeland Security as a de-escalation tool. ICE plans to spend anywhere from $10 million to $20 million to purchase the devices for officers. The gloves are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky-based company, that describes the technology used in the device as “a great, humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution.”
The prospect of putting these devices in the hands of officers who underwent a shortened training program, a decision ICE later reversed, is what makes the decision the most alarming. But this is not the only reason for concern. ICE has a documented history of abuse, raising serious concerns about whether its officers should have another tool capable of inflicting pain.
The gloves function as normal patrol gloves until a built-in electronic switch is activated. Once activated, the gloves deliver an electric shock through direct contact with a person’s skin, causing pain intended to bring them into compliance.
The introduction of these gloves is particularly concerning given ICE’s documented history of excessive force and misconduct. Federal immigration officers have shot at 23 people, leaving six dead, three of them U.S. citizens, since the Trump administration began its crackdown on immigration, according to The New York Times.
In 2022, two corrections officers at a South Carolina jail were charged after allegedly beating and shocking an inmate with a G.L.O.V.E. stun device, according to CNN. The same type of G.L.O.V.E. technology involved in that incident is now set to be used by an agency that has a long record of abuses.
This concern is amplified by ICE’s recent history with officer training. Last fall, during a hiring surge, the agency cut more than 240 hours from its basic training program, which was about 40% of it. ICE later reversed course on this decision after scrutiny, restoring the longer program and saying it would retrain officers who completed the shortened program. However, it remains unclear how many officers have been retrained and when that retraining will occur, according to Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.
G.L.O.V.E.’s manufacturer emphasizes the importance of proper training. In a case in which a lawsuit was filed after a jail guard in Bullitt County used the gloves, the company founder and CEO Jeff Niklaus said, “They failed to implement policy and training.” ICE should not give officers access to a device designed to inflict pain until they can demonstrate that their officers have received adequate training to use it responsibly.
Proponents of ICE’s use of the gloves argue that they could give officers a way to end confrontations without resorting to more dangerous forms of force. John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, said, “For smaller officers or weaker officers or older officers, I think it has a great advantage” because it can lead to faster takedowns. But this depends on officers knowing when and how to use the device.
Another use-of-force option is only as safe as the officers using it. As it stands, ICE has not given enough reason to believe that its officers are adequately trained to wield a device of this nature. Until it can, these gloves should stay far out of their reach.
