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State lawmaker proposes ban on shock gloves

Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz is proposing a ban on shock gloves in New York state.

The legislation comes a couple of weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver electric shocks, saying officers would use them to control detainees and protesters who resist.

Cruz' bill (A.11672) would prohibit the importation, manufacture, sale, offer for sale, possession, transfer and distribution of shock gloves in New York state as well as create civil and criminal enforcement of the ban, if it is passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul. A violation would be included under the definition of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the state Penal Law.

"The proposed prohibition therefore prevents private persons and commercial entities from possessing and using a device specifically designed to inflict electrical shock and physical pain as a means of compelling another person’s conduct, while establishing a clear legislative policy that such devices should not become normalized tools for resolving civil disputes or obtaining compliance with civil obligations," Cruz wrote in her legislative justification.

The devices are known as the G.L.O.V.E., which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC. They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments. In Bardstown, Kentucky, Nelson County Jailer Justin Hall told the Associated Press that his agency began using the gloves four years ago to try to gain compliance when inmates are out of control. He said that, unlike Tasers, the shocks do not incapacitate people and make them fall or leave contact or burn marks. Hall estimated that he had been shocked by the gloves more than 10 times during training, and the pain was intense but stops once the gloves are no longer touching skin. He said the shock gloves have been used sparingly, but are helpful as an initial deterrent when de-escalation techniques do not work.

"It's just a safer way. It's safer on the inmate. It's safer on the staff. And most of the time, most of the time we get compliance," he said. "It’s been a great tool for our facility."

Compliant Technologies says the devices function as a normal pair of patrol gloves until officers press a switch to activate their electrical mode. The gloves must be applied directly to someone’s skin to deliver a pain stimulus that typically helps an officer gain compliance within seconds, according to the company.

"It's immediate and sharp, and it will distract you. I call it like a bee sting," said John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, who is studying how the device has been used. "If the officer is getting any type of resistance from the person, this is certainly an effective tool."

Peters said he believed ICE's planned purchase would likely be the largest from the company to date. He said he could envision ICE officers using the gloves to help remove uncooperative subjects from cars and houses and in and out of detention facilities.

"For smaller officers or weaker officers or older officers, I think it has a great advantage" because it can produce faster takedowns and shorten confrontations, he said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James threatened legal action against federal ICE agents if the gloves are used in New York. Cruz, meanwhile, has also been a critic of SHOCK gloves before introducing A.11672.

She said her legislation is needed to protect state residents and reinforce the idea that civil disputes are resolved through the law rather than pain. Those found violating the ban, if approved, could face fines of $1,000 for each violation, with courts able to impose civil penalties of no more than $4,000 for violations it finds are knowing and willful.