00:00ICE agents could soon be equipped with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, drawing swift criticism from civil rights
00:06groups.
00:07In a notice released by the Department of Homeland Security, they say these gloves will act as conductive distraction and
00:14de-escalation devices.
00:17The price tag for the new gear, up to $20 million.
00:20This comes just days after the agency announced it would be accelerating its rollout to equip all officers in the
00:27field with body cameras.
00:28Joining us now, NBC News Senior Homeland Security Correspondent Julia Ainsley.
00:33Julia, what do we know about these gloves and how they work?
00:36Well, they're supposed to conduct a low voltage electronic emission from these gloves.
00:42It's an acronym for glove, but they are in fact gloves that these officers would wear when they go out
00:48into the field to make arrests.
00:49I talked to a senior DHS official who said that these could be turned on with the touch of a
00:55button.
00:55But yes, they would use the gloves walking into any encounter.
00:58And this official made the argument that this could cut down on lethal force.
01:03After all, we saw two fatal shootings by ICE officers encountering people in their cars last month, although it could
01:09be hard to get their hands on a driver.
01:11But they said it could be used any time that someone is resisting arrest and that they would not use
01:17them on high risk individuals like pregnant women.
01:20But yes, otherwise, it's really within the discretion of the agent or officer who's wearing them at the time.
01:26I wonder, I mean, is there guidance on how and when to use them?
01:30Will there be training with this?
01:32Because de-escalation training is something that a lot of experts have said is really important.
01:37Or is it solely up to the discretion of the officer, Julia?
01:40No, there will certainly be training on how to use them.
01:43But their argument here is that it's safer than pepper spray because it doesn't do anything to the public.
01:48They say it is painful at first, but that the pain goes away after the hand is removed and that
01:55it doesn't leave a mark.
01:56But it will certainly grab the attention of the person who is being affected by these gloves.
02:02Where they've been used most frequently is with people inside of the prison system and jails when they're being used
02:09to break up a fight, for example.
02:11There's no other time, no other evidence we can draw from where federal law enforcement agencies are actually using these
02:17making arrests.
02:18But yes, they will be trained.
02:20Exactly what that training will entail, I don't know yet.
02:23But to be used whenever someone is noncompliant, that doesn't necessarily mean that the life of the officer is threatened.
02:29It's just when someone refuses to do something like put their hands behind their back.
02:33That's according to a senior DHS official I spoke to this morning, Christine.
02:36We thank you for watching.
02:38And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our
02:43YouTube channel.
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