RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The controversy surrounding the G.L.O.V.E. electric shock device is moving beyond federal immigration enforcement and into America's schools, with district officials facing growing pressure to ban or restrict the technology after police confirmed it was used on students in Omaha.
Following a heated Omaha Public Schools board meeting on Monday where parents, students and community members urged district leaders to stop the use of the devices in schools, the Omaha Police Department said it has suspended use of the technology in schools for the time being.
This comes just days after it emerged that school resource officers had deployed the gloves on two students during the 2025-26 school year.
The devices, officially known as the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, deliver an electrical shock through physical contact and recently drew national attention after reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) planned a major purchase of the technology .
Earlier this week, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Mayor John Ewing provided new details about the two incidents in which the gloves were used by school resource officers.
According to police, one deployment occurred at Omaha South High School when a student who was trespassing attempted to flee after allegedly fighting with a security guard. Officers said the glove was applied to the student's wrist for about two seconds while detaining him.
The second incident took place at the district's Integrated Learning Program, a program serving students with social, emotional, behavioral and learning challenges. Police said a student made threats, threw a chair that struck a security guard, and punched the guard before the glove was deployed twice.
"Omaha Police School Resource Officers are properly trained on and carry the G.L.O.V.E. as a discreet, de-escalation option specifically for the school environment," Omaha Police Department Lieutenant Neal Bonacci told Newsweek .
"If Omaha Public Schools requests that our officers not utilize this tool, we will adhere to that request. However, OPD officers will forever carry standard-issued equipment, including tasers, OC spray, batons, and firearms, to ensure the protection of others and themselves."
The disclosures prompted sharp criticism from parents and advocacy groups, who raised concerns about student safety, use-of-force policies and the potential impact on children with disabilities or underlying medical conditions.
Among those speaking at Monday's meeting was Alexie Herman, the parent of an autistic child with epilepsy, who questioned whether vulnerable students could be protected if officers were allowed to use the devices.
"If OPS cannot follow IEPs and 504s and their own policies regarding holds and emergency response teams, what's gonna happen when there's shock gloves involved?" she told the board. "I am now terrified that children like mine are going to be killed by these use of force items."
One of the most striking revelations from the meeting was that several school leaders said they had not been told about the technology.
Board Vice President Kimara Snipes said she was "livid" after learning the devices had been introduced into schools without what she described as a formal conversation with district leadership.
"If OPD decided to place a new use-of-force device inside our schools, I don't understand how that could happen without a formal conversation with the superintendent or the elected board responsible for these schools," she said.
Board member Gini Magnuson was similarly critical, saying: "I personally am sickened to learn our schools have been used as a test bed for a new law enforcement technology."
Community speakers called for an immediate moratorium, a policy review and greater transparency around the circumstances under which the gloves can be used.
Several board members appeared sympathetic to those demands. Board member Bri Full said: "If there was a vote tonight on the use of these gloves and the use of force with tasers, with OC spray, with batons, I would vote absolutely not," adding: "We have to get these weapons out of our school because there's not enough guidelines in place in our current contract that we have with OPD about the use of force and these weapons on our students."
On Tuesday, Superintendent Matthew Ray formally asked Omaha and Bellevue police departments to stop allowing school resource officers to carry G.L.O.V.E. devices on Omaha Public Schools property. In a message to families, Ray said district leaders had "heard community input and concern" and that "continued use of GLOVEs would be counterproductive to our work together," adding that students "must be safe and feel safe."
In a statement, Ewing said OPS had been given the option to opt out of the technology and that the city would respect that decision. "OPS was given the option to opt out, and we honored that," Ewing said. While describing school resource officers as an important part of school safety efforts, Ewing said city officials had informed district leaders that officers carry a range of tools and that the G.L.O.V.E. had been "the least impactful." He added: "We value our relationship with them and will continue to listen and respond to their needs."
The controversy is not confined to Omaha. In California, former Davis Police Accountability Commission Chair Dillan Horton urged local officials to consider banning the technology, citing both ICE's planned acquisition and its use by school resource officers in Omaha.
Referring to reports from Nebraska, Horton wrote that Omaha police were already "responding to concerns about why they have had this technology deployed for years with school resource officers."
He added: "We don't have to wait until someone in our community is tragi...
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