US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has approved a $16.7 million procurement contract for 6,000 pairs of electrically activated gloves, adding a new pain-compliance device to the range of equipment available to officers involved in arrests, detainee transfers, and crowd-control operations. The contract covers not only the gloves themselves but also associated equipment, technical support, and related services. The procurement is expected to be carried out over a period of approximately six months.
Unlike conventional protective gloves, the devices are designed to operate in two modes. During routine use, they function as ordinary patrol gloves. An officer can, however, activate an electrical function that allows the glove to deliver a painful electrical stimulus when it comes into direct contact with a person's skin.
ICE describes the technology as an intermediate control option intended for situations in which a person refuses instructions, resists restraint, or becomes combative. According to the agency's procurement justification, the devices could be used during arrests, the movement of difficult detainees, disturbances outside detention facilities, and other situations where officers need to establish physical control quickly.
A group of 16 Democratic senators, led by Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, has urged ICE to reconsider the acquisition, arguing that introducing a new electrical pain-compliance device requires far greater scrutiny.