KVIG Informative

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may soon carry gloves built to deliver a painful electric jolt on contact — a purchase the agency plans to award without competitive bidding, as scrutiny mounts over how ICE already uses force in the field.

The Department of Homeland Security published a notice this week outlining plans to buy the CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. — Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter — devices for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations divisions, at an estimated cost of $10 million to $20 million.

The gloves, manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky, resemble ordinary patrol gear until an officer activates an electrical switch. Pressed against a person’s skin, the device delivers a localized shock the manufacturer says is designed to distract and compel compliance within about a second.

DHS plans to award the contract without competitive bidding, with a solicitation expected as soon as this week and an award targeted for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. The devices are due for delivery by March 31, 2027, with a listed performance site at Fort Benning, Georgia.

The manufacturer’s own user manual warns the technology is not risk-free and that failing to follow its safety instructions could cause injury or death. Anyone authorized to use the gloves must be certified, and recertified every two years, according to that manual.

The purchase comes as ICE faces mounting scrutiny over its tactics amid a White House push for roughly 2,000 arrests a day. A DHS spokesperson said the agency is targeting people convicted of or charged with serious crimes and cited sharp increases in assaults, vehicle attacks and death threats against its officers as justification for new equipment.

Similar shock-glove technology has already been used in at least one U.S. jail. Oklahoma County Jail began deploying gloves from the same manufacturer in 2024, capable of delivering shocks at roughly 210 volts, according to reporting at the time.

DHS has not disclosed how many gloves it intends to buy or the cost per unit, and the Associated Press, which first reported the plan, said the agency is seeking thousands of the devices. What’s clear is the timeline: officers could be carrying them in the field well before the contract, and the tactics it’s meant to support, get any outside review.