U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to spend up to $20 million on electric shock gloves — an emerging law enforcement tool already in the hands of police officers assigned to public schools in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Department of Homeland Security published documents this week detailing ICE's plan to equip officers with high-tech gloves capable of delivering electric shocks. AP News first reported the procurement plans.

The devices, known as G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), are already in use by law enforcement agencies across the United States. In May 2025, the city of Omaha awarded the Omaha Police Department $65,924 for 40 units of the electric shock gloves intended for deployment in public schools, according to city documents.

"These gloves are being purchased for school resource officers as another use of force option with the goal of deescalating and preventing use of force situations," the Omaha Police Department wrote in correspondence to the city's purchasing department.

Neither the Omaha Police Department nor Omaha Public Schools responded to Fortune's requests for comment regarding how or why the gloves are being used, or what training school resource officers received. Publicly available documents do not provide specific examples of the devices being used in schools, and it remains unclear whether they are currently in active use. The Omaha deployment underscores an ongoing national debate over the types of tools school resource officers carry, as districts across the country have grappled with questions about whether tasers, pepper spray, and other less-lethal devices belong in educational environments.

Widespread Adoption Amid Scrutiny

An NPR analysis found that more than 50 police departments across 20 states are already using the technology. The rollout comes at a time when law enforcement agencies, including ICE, face heightened public scrutiny over the use of excessive force. Conducted electrical weapons such as tasers have been the subject of numerous wrongful death and excessive force lawsuits over the past two decades, and the G.L.O.V.E. enters a market where the legal and policy frameworks governing less-lethal devices remain largely decentralized, set at the department level rather than by any single federal standard.

The CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. products deliver shocks ranging from 324 to 362 volts, with a hard operational limit of 380 volts. By comparison, a standard taser can reach between 1,200 and 1,500 volts.

The devices are manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based, veteran-owned company that describes the technology as a "Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device." At the time of the Omaha correspondence, the gloves were reportedly being used by "all officers" at the Bellevue Police Department.

A third-party security expert, cited in the police department's purchasing request, praised the gloves' capabilities and outlined policy recommendations. The expert advised that G.L.O.V.E. should not be deployed on the elderly, small children, pregnant women, people with physical disabilities, or individuals with "obvious health conditions."

ICE's Planned Use of G.L.O.V.E.

According to the DHS document, the gloves will be used by Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) during the arrest, detention, and deportation of individuals. ERO operates one of the largest civilian detention systems in the federal government, managing a network of facilities that hold tens of thousands of individuals at any given time. The contract is expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 and would run through March 2027.

ICE's track record on use of force has drawn concern from civil rights advocates. The American Civil Liberties Union published a report last month finding that more than one-third of 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents involved agent misconduct, including excessive force and the targeting of children and other vulnerable individuals.

"ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fortune. "Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensure that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards."

Compliant Technologies did not immediately respond to Fortune's requests for comment.

Device Certification and Function

According to the manufacturer, officers must complete a certification course before using the device and must be recertified every two years.

The G.L.O.V.E. devices function as standard gloves until activated by a button, which triggers electrode pads on the palm side to deliver a painful electric shock upon direct contact with skin.

In a video review testing the device, Mike O'Dowd, a former Navy SEAL and founder of Defense Strategies Group, described the sensation of being grabbed by the arms with the gloves: "It goes into your nerve and it sends this shock up your arm and it hurts so bad. It was unbearable."