Cop Used Electrocution Gloves to Subdue High School Student in Special Education Program

In August, the Associated Press revealed that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plan to spend over $20 million on thousands of electric-shock gloves, known as the "Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter," or G.L.O.V.E. These devices, while new to the public, are not unfamiliar to local law enforcement, who often employ them on vulnerable high school students alongside adult suspects.

In Omaha, Nebraska, two students were subdued using these gloves during the 2025-2026 school year, according to NPR. One student was allegedly trespassing at another school and fled, receiving a shock for about two seconds to be detained. The second student, attending Omaha Public Schools' Integrated Learning Program, a program for students with social, emotional, behavioral, and learning difficulties, made verbal threats and threw a chair at a school security guard.

Two shocks were delivered to immobilize the student long enough for their arrest. The Omaha police statement showed that their primary concern was their own safety, not the students they were shocking, stating their use of G.L.O.V.E. was to increase public and officer safety through innovations. This use of high-tech security measures in schools is part of a broader trend, with school shootings on the rise and students increasingly expected to pass through security checkpoints with metal detectors and armed police officers.

The use of these gloves and other high-tech tools, while possibly aimed at maintaining discipline, disproportionately affects Black and disabled students, who are often cited and arrested for minor infractions like vaping or disrespectful behavior. The use of such tools, rather than providing a safety net, seems to exacerbate the problem.