I am writing to ask you to stop ICE’s planned purchase of electric shock gloves and to open the contract to public scrutiny.
On August 10, 2026, DHS published a notice that ICE intends to spend $10 to $20 million on the CTG 5 G.L.O.V.E. — “Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter” — a patrol glove that delivers an electric shock when the wearer presses a concealed switch. It is a sole-source, no-bid award to Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky, for delivery by March 31, 2027.
The manufacturer’s own manual states the device is not to be used for punishment, torture, or in response to verbal defiance, and should not be used on the elderly, small children, or people with disabilities. It acknowledges that the device elevates heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure, and cautions that this may compound the risk of sudden death during physical restraint. It sets a 15-second maximum. An internal investigation at Kentucky’s Madison County Detention Center documented applications of 45 and 99 seconds. In 2022, two South Carolina corrections officers were criminally charged in connection with beating and shocking a detained man with this device.
The officers who would carry it were hired at unprecedented speed. ICE grew from roughly 10,000 to more than 22,000 personnel in about four months. The training academy was cut from 13 weeks to 6. The minimum age was lowered to 18 and the upper age cap removed. Signing bonuses reached $50,000. NBC News reported that recruits arrived at training before fingerprinting and background checks were complete, some with criminal records, failed drug tests, or pending charges. The DHS Inspector General announced an audit of ICE hiring and training in August 2025. No findings have been released.
We have also seen what happens when force is used and no camera is required. After federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on January 24, 2026, senior officials stated he approached officers with a handgun and violently resisted disarming. Bystander video reviewed by NPR, CBS News, ABC News, and FactCheck.org shows him holding a phone, and shows an agent removing the firearm from his waistband before the shots. The Deputy Attorney General later acknowledged the conduct was far from the legal definition of domestic terrorism. In the January 7 killing of Renee Good, DHS declared within two hours that a “violent rioter” had “weaponized her vehicle”; verified video analyzed by ABC News shows her turning the wheel away from the agent one second before the first shot.
The contracting itself deserves scrutiny. Federal law requires full and open competition; a sole-source award requires a written Justification and Approval, which has not been published. This is a pattern: in November 2025 ICE issued a $29.9 million detention design contract — set just below the $30 million threshold that triggers open bidding — and in October 2025 the Coast Guard signed a $172 million sole-source contract with Gulfstream during a government shutdown.
I ask you to: suspend the solicitation; compel publication of the Justification and Approval and all safety documentation; require independent medical review before any deployment; ask GAO to complete a review of ICE hiring and vetting; and condition any future use-of-force equipment on continuously recording body cameras and mandatory incident reporting.
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