Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, as well as other Department of Homeland Security personnel, may soon be equipped with “bee sting” electroshock gloves intended for de-escalation.
According to a notice, DHS plans to spend between $10 million and $20 million on generated low output voltage emitters, or GLOVEs, by March. The new equipment is characterized as a “conductive distraction and de-escalation device” and is intended for ICE and Homeland Security Investigations.
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GLOVEs are made by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky, and the company website claims the wearable devices “are not a weapon” but rather a “device used to quickly distract with small uncomfortable electrical pulses directly where the CD3 is applied to the surface of the skin.”
“It is available as an ‘invisible partner’ to enhance the user’s effectiveness when operating within their agencies’ already established tactics, techniques and procedures,” the company website says. “This is why we call the G.L.O.V.E. the ‘Force Multiplier’ and how it operates within the Force Continuum as ‘The New Protocol in Peace Keeping.'”
Conductive distraction and de-escalation devices use low stimulation that can’t occur through hair, clothing, metal, or fur, the company said.
“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 said of its CD3 product. “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.”
Compliant Technologies requires officers to complete a course and be recertified every two years in order to use GLOVE technology.
John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, told the Associated Press that GLOVEs can be a useful tool for officers. He described GLOVEs effect as a “bee sting,” and could help ICE officers remove subjects from cars.
The planned purchase comes on the heels of ICE’s use of force during vehicle stops, which drew scrutiny during two fatal shootings in Texas and Maine. ICE officers shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, in Houston in July after he was stopped in his vehicle. Less than a week later, officers shot a 26-year-old Colombian man during a vehicle stop in Biddeford, Maine.
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ICE temporarily directed officers to largely suspend vehicle stops following the shootings while the agency reviewed its tactics and training. President Donald Trump overturned the pause a day later. The incidents have further fueled broader debate over ICE enforcement tactics as the administration continues its immigration crackdown.
The Washington Examiner reached out to DHS for comment.
