ICE agents could soon use gloves that give painful electric shocks

U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could soon use gloves that can give a painful electric shock to anyone they touch.

As first reported by the Associated Press , the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice on Monday revealing plans to distribute electrically powered shock gloves to ICE agents by the end of March next year.

Called the G.L.O.V.E. (an acronym for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), the device is developed by Kentucky company Compliant Technologies , which markets it as a "Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device" or CD3.

"CD3s are not weapons — they deliver small, non-injurious electrical pulses directly to the surface of the skin, the body’s largest and most conductive organ, achieving NPI (Neuro Peripheral Interference)," Compliant Technologies states on its website .

In short, the gloves cause a painful electric shock .

View this post on Instagram According to Compliant Technologies, the G.L.O.V.E "delivers a pain stimulus strictly to the area" of the skin that it touches, overstimulating and disrupting signals in the nervous system.

This overwhelms and overloads the brain, causing a person to instinctively attempt to retreat.

"Because the effect is so intense, it disrupts normal thought processes and interferes with expected reactions," the company states.

"In most cases, this results in the subject effectively complying or conceding in order to end the effects." SEE ALSO: This map shows how many Flock cameras are in your neighborhood G.L.O.V.E. devices will be supplied to officers and agents across ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations divisions, with the DHS planning to spend up to $20 million to purchase them, according to the notice.

The DHS is specifically interested in the CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. model, which can output around 324-362 volts (to a maximum of 380) at 700-1200mA by touching a person.

In comparison, Axon Enterprise's TASER 10 delivers under 1000 volts at 1.5mA via prongs that pierce the skin.

Higher voltage better enables electricity to flow through obstacles such as air, clothes, or flesh, while amplitude measures the strength of the current.