Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will soon have a new, high-tech device capable of sending a painful electric shock to a person simply by touching them.
The device, called the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter (G.L.O.V.E.), is a glove fitted with electronics and a switch that allows officers to quickly stun a person during an arrest or other interaction. The Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday that it would pay up to $20 million to outfit all its agents with the new tech.
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The Kentucky-based company that manufactures the G.L.O.V.E., Compliant Technologies, frames its device as a tool that can help law enforcement better de-escalate situations. Several law enforcement and correctional agencies have already deployed the device and, in one instance, lawyers in Kentucky have said the device has led to a man’s death.
ICE’s use of force
Since President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown initiative, people have criticized ICE agents for their use of force. Public scrutiny reached a flashpoint in January, after federal immigration agents killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. At least 24 others have died in ICE custody this year, according to the National Immigration Project.
The criticisms and the subsequent conflicting statements from federal immigration officials about the shootings set the stage for Trump’s firing of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
DHS later announced that it would quickly roll out body cams to all agents to address calls for greater transparency. But the rollout has yet to happen since the January announcement. The department now says all agents will receive body cams by the end of the month, Time reported. But, as Straight Arrow previously reported, ICE will have strict control over what the public will actually see.
Compliant Technologies says on its website that its device is meant to “de-escalate tense situations quickly and effectively.” Additionally, the company states its mission is to “empower law enforcement” to better handle dangerous situations “with confidence and control.” The company declined to comment when asked by Straight Arrow.
But the American Civil Liberties Union doesn’t think ICE agents need another potentially deadly tool added to their arsenal.
“ICE has betrayed the public’s faith and at this point cannot be trusted to use force on American streets, let alone to use an untested technology against anyone they perceive as a threat,” Naureen Shah, the ACLU’s director of policy and government affairs on immigration, told Straight Arrow in a statement.
What does the G.L.O.V.E. do?
A user activates the glove by pressing a small button on the wrist. Then, all the user needs to do is touch someone’s skin, and the person receives a shock, similar to a Taser. Unlike a traditional Taser, this device has no prongs that penetrate the skin and require removal.
Videos of the device in action show people quickly falling over and yelling in pain. In one video, the company’s owner, Jeff Niklaus, demonstrated the G.L.O.V.E. on a deputy from the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department. The deputy dropped to the ground and yelled. When Niklaus asked what he felt, the deputy said he felt like he had “no control.”
ICE will be spending upwards of $20M for "Shock Gloves" to help de-escalate confrontations with illegal immigrants, according to the AP.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 13, 2026
The "G.L.O.V.E." is manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC, based in Kentucky.
"70% of officers killed with firearms are shot within 10… pic.twitter.com/UKUYnplUbu
Kenneth Corey, the executive director of the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago Crime Lab, told NPR that he’s had it used on him before.
“It made my knees buckle,” he said.
Corey described the use of force as a ladder, saying each rung offers law enforcement a more intense option. If a person is charging an officer with a weapon, then that officer might choose to use more force, Corey explained. While he said the glove itself isn’t an issue, the way it’s used could be.
“Any new piece of equipment that’s being introduced, you have to have strong policies that govern its use,” Corey told NPR. “And then you have to make sure that your people are being held accountable, that they’re following those policies.”
Where else has the G.L.O.V.E. been deployed?
Law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities have implemented the G.L.O.V.E. before. In 2024, the Oklahoma County Jail planned to give corrections officers the device, with jail officials saying it was ideal for the majority-female prison staff, CNN reported.
But the glove’s customers don’t stop at law enforcement entities — schools have also shown interest in the device. Omaha Public Schools purchased the glove for its schools, NPR reported, but said it wasn’t clear how school officials were using it.
The device’s rollout to prisons and other facilities has led to some legal issues. In October 2025, a family in Madison County, Kentucky, issued a wrongful death lawsuit after they said corrections officers shocked Jonathan Mansfield dozens of times, leading to his death.
According to the lawsuit obtained by a local news station in Lexington, lawyers for Mansfield’s family said the officers used a traditional Taser and the glove. The lawsuit states that Mansfield was shocked nearly 30 times with the glove. He eventually died from cardiac arrest at a nearby hospital.
How could ICE use the device?
Critics warn that the new devices could lead to more injuries to protesters given ICE’s well-documented history of crowd-control measures on demonstrators described as aggressive.
A joint study by Physicians for Human Rights and the University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center found 412 verified incidents of ICE misusing crowd-control weapons between June 2025 and June 2026. Nearly a quarter of those happened in Minnesota during Trump’s Operation Metro Surge.
DHS pushed back on that, telling Straight Arrow in a statement that “officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”
The department has yet to release official guidance or protocol on how federal agents should use the glove. Agents and officers could see the device as soon as March, according to a notice published Monday by DHS.
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