How Much Do ICE Electric Shock Gloves Cost?

Published on August 13, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 14 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

ICE is preparing to buy thousands of CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. devices for officers and agents in Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations.

The federal purchase is forecast at $10 million to $20 million as of August 2026, according to the DHS acquisition forecast. A source familiar with manufacturer Compliant Technologies reported a seller price of $2,500 per device. That hardware figure does not capture paid training time, recurring certification, replacement equipment, administration, or possible legal claims.

The delivered cost can be much higher than the glove price. Using current ICE pay and the reported training requirement, salary time for initial certification alone could add roughly $594,000 to $2.85 million across a modeled deployment of 4,000 to 8,000 users.

ICE has not awarded a final glove contract or disclosed an official quantity, so those figures are planning scenarios rather than a federal invoice.

How Much Do ICE Electric Shock Gloves Cost?

The glove program starts with a $10 million to $20 million (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 160 to 321 years of full-time work, before taxes) procurement forecast, but training and other deployment expenses could push the real taxpayer cost higher.

Important numbers

• Planned acquisition range $10 million to $20 million
• Reported seller price $2,500 per device
• Modeled initial training labor $594,000 to $2.85 million
• Comparable ICE Taser program ceiling $220 million
• Recent ICE body-camera purchase $30.9 million

What this is

The CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. is a patrol glove fitted with electronics that can deliver an electrical pain stimulus through direct contact with exposed skin. Compliant Technologies describes the product as a conductive distraction and de-escalation device. The electrical function is activated by the wearer and is separate from the glove’s normal hand-protection role.

It differs from an ordinary tactical glove because it adds a use-of-force function that requires agency policy, officer instruction, inspection, charging, and reporting. It also differs from a probe-firing Taser because the G.L.O.V.E. requires physical contact rather than launching probes from a distance. The CTG-5 product specifications list multiple glove sizes, a rechargeable lithium-ion power source, controls built into the equipment, and operating features intended for trained law-enforcement users.

ICE’s Glove Budget

DHS published the CTG-5 acquisition forecast on August 10, 2026. The record places the planned firm-fixed-price requirement between $10 million and $20 million (about 160 to 321 years of full-time work at $30 per hour), lists both HSI and ERO as intended users, marks competition as “NO,” and forecasts completion by March 31, 2027.

The procurement notice does not say how many gloves ICE wants. It also does not provide a federal unit price. A reported $2,500 seller figure came from a person familiar with the company rather than an awarded government contract, according to seller-side price reporting. That distinction changes the calculation.

If every dollar at the procurement floor bought hardware at $2,500 each, ICE could buy 4,000 devices. At the ceiling, the same math produces 8,000. Federal contracts can also carry training, logistics, support, replacement stock, and administration, leaving fewer dollars for the device itself.

ICE said in January 2026 that it had hired more than 12,000 officers and agents during its recruitment expansion. Equipping 12,000 people at $2,500 apiece would require $30 million, based on the agency’s current workforce announcement. That is $10 million above the procurement ceiling, another sign that the current public figures do not support a one-device-per-employee assumption.

Training 4,000 to 8,000 Users

The reported certification course lasts six to eight hours. Training time has a direct labor value because ICE officers are paid for hours spent away from normal assignments. A current ICE Deportation Officer posting lists annual salaries from $51,632 to $92,991 (about 0.8 to 1.5 years of full-time work at $30 per hour), according to the federal job listing.

Using 2,087 work hours to translate those salaries into an hourly rate gives about $24.74 to $44.56 per hour. At the low end, 4,000 users multiplied by six hours and $24.74 comes to about $594,000 in salary time. At the high end, 8,000 users multiplied by eight hours and $44.56 reaches about $2.85 million. The calculation does not include instructors, training sites, travel, overtime, scheduling staff, or equipment consumed during instruction.

ICE already pays outside vendors for weapons instruction. A July 2026 Baltimore-area firearms training modification had a total estimated base cost of $120,063.14 after increased hiring exhausted the original funding, according to the training contract record. The facility had to support firearms qualifications, defensive tactics, intermediate-force weapons, classroom instruction, and scenario exercises. That contract does not establish the CTG-5 training rate, but it shows that officer instruction can create a separate federal expense beyond equipment procurement.

Three ICE Programs

Taser case. ICE sought a five-year program worth up to $220 million for about 17,800 conducted-energy weapons, cartridges, training, and related support in 2026. Dividing the ceiling by the planned device count gives roughly $12,360 per weapon equivalent, but that figure cannot be read as the price of one Taser because cartridges and services are included. The Taser procurement reporting provides a useful comparison with a glove that has a reported hardware price but no published lifecycle package.

Body-camera case. ICE spent $30.9 million in July 2026 on Axon body-camera equipment after Congress had provided $20 million for ICE and Border Patrol cameras, according to federal body-camera spending records. Training case. Separate reporting on ICE contracting found a $23,000 pistol-and-rifle instruction award among a series of training purchases during the agency’s expansion, documented in a review of ICE training contracts.

These three purchases involve different equipment and services, so none gives a valid CTG-5 markup. They show why a federal hardware quote and the eventual operating cost can sit far apart. Body cameras require deployment and data systems. Tasers consume cartridges and training. Intermediate-force equipment creates qualification and policy work.

Recertification, Replacements

Initial certification does not close the training ledger. AP reports that users of the G.L.O.V.E. require periodic recertification, with a two-year cycle described in the manufacturer’s training structure. A rollout completed in 2027 could send early users through multiple certification cycles during a five-year equipment program. If a future refresher required the same paid hours as initial instruction, labor exposure could repeat at a similar scale, but the public record does not establish the length or price of future ICE refresher classes. Those costs should remain unpriced until the contract or training plan is released. The same restraint applies to replacement gloves, batteries, chargers, inspection labor, damaged equipment, storage, software or record systems, and supervisor review. None has a published ICE CTG-5 price as of August 2026.

That distinction is useful for other government equipment too. The operating bill behind an ankle monitoring program can include supervision and recurring service beyond the device. CTG-5 deployment has its own version of that problem. Charging and inspection are recurring work, certification consumes officer hours, and use-of-force reporting can require supervisors, investigators, and legal personnel. A unit purchase price captures none of those labor categories unless the final contract expressly bundles them.

Lawsuits Create a Cost Category

A pending Kentucky wrongful-death lawsuit alleges that repeated G.L.O.V.E. applications and Taser use contributed to the death of a jail detainee in 2024. AP reported that an internal investigation documented glove applications lasting 45 and 99 seconds, compared with a manufacturer-recommended 15-second limit.

The allegations have not been decided at trial, and AP also reviewed two other G.L.O.V.E.-related injury suits that were dismissed. The G.L.O.V.E. litigation review makes the financial issue concrete. A serious use-of-force complaint can trigger internal investigations, evidence preservation, medical review, outside litigation, employee time, policy changes, and retraining even when the government ultimately wins a case. Those costs do not appear in the glove acquisition forecast.

ICE also has a formal route for monetary claims against the federal government. Its Federal Tort Claims Act process covers qualifying claims for property damage, personal injury, or death attributed to federal employees acting within the scope of employment. No public record establishes a future ICE settlement amount tied to CTG-5 use, so adding a made-up lawsuit reserve would weaken the price estimate.

The better comparison is structural. A use-of-force tool can create legal spending years after the purchase is completed. That same separation between an announced event budget and other government costs appears in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix cost, where support expenses can sit outside the headline contract or production figure.

A Five-Year ICE Glove Program

A reader-first estimate can combine only costs supported by public numbers. Start with the official procurement floor of $10 million. Add the low training-labor model of roughly $594,000, which produces about $10.59 million before instructors, travel, replacement devices, certification renewals, administration, and claims.

At the high side, adding the modeled $2.85 million of initial salary time to the $20 million procurement ceiling produces about $22.85 million. These are not ICE forecasts. They are hardware-plus-initial-labor scenarios built from the federal contract range, the reported six-to-eight-hour training requirement, and current federal salaries. A five-year figure would need future recertification hours, replacement rates, maintenance terms, and awarded support pricing before it could be calculated without inventing inputs.

Modeled cost line	Low case	High case
Glove procurement	$10.0 million	$20.0 million
Initial officer salary time	$594,000	$2.85 million
Hardware plus initial salary time	$10.59 million	$22.85 million
Recertification and replacements	Not disclosed	Not disclosed
Legal claims	Not predictable	Not predictable

Worked example

• Start with $10,000,000 at the procurement floor.
• Model 4,000 users based on $10,000,000 ÷ $2,500 = 4,000.
• Use six paid training hours at about $24.74 per hour.
• Training salary time is about $594,000.
• The resulting modeled starting cost is about $10.59 million.

This calculation is intentionally narrow. It gives readers a defensible minimum-style program view without assigning unsupported values to categories ICE has not priced publicly.

What we verified

• Checked the initial AP procurement report for the planned ICE deployment and required device training.
• Confirmed the ICE compensation rules showing law-enforcement availability pay can add 25% of basic pay for eligible positions, a cost not included in the salary-only training model.
• Cross-referenced the recertification requirement before treating training as a recurring expense.

Article Highlights

• ICE’s August 2026 CTG-5 procurement is forecast at $10 million to $20 million.
• The reported seller price is $2,500 per device, not an official ICE contract rate.
• Initial paid training time could add about $594,000 to $2.85 million under a 4,000-to-8,000-user model.
• A hardware-plus-initial-training model produces about $10.59 million to $22.85 million before several recurring expenses.
• ICE’s separate $220 million Taser program and $30.9 million body-camera purchase show how field equipment can grow into a much larger deployment program.
• Lawsuits, recertification, replacement equipment, and administrative work cannot yet be priced credibly for the CTG-5 program.

Answers to Common Questions

How much does one ICE electric shock glove cost?

A seller-side source reported $2,500 per CTG-5. ICE has not released its final contract price per device.

How much could ICE spend on the glove program?

The government acquisition forecast is $10 million to $20 million. Adding modeled initial officer salary time produces a starting range of about $10.59 million to $22.85 million, before unpriced recurring expenses.

How much could training cost?

Using current ICE salary rates and the reported six-to-eight-hour certification period, salary time alone comes to roughly $594,000 to $2.85 million for 4,000 to 8,000 users.

Could lawsuits make the gloves more expensive?

Yes, but no defensible ICE lawsuit allowance can be calculated yet. Prior G.L.O.V.E. litigation shows that claims can create investigation and legal work, and ICE accepts qualifying monetary claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act.