Sharp-Collins says the gloves "will be in the hands of our least trained and most lawless law enforcement" as ICE plans to buy them
LaShae Sharp-CollinsAssemblymember (D-San Diego) and author of AB 2760, speaking at a Capitol news conference
At the August 27, 2026 Capitol news conference announcing AB 2760, Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins said the largest planned purchase of the gloves is by ICE, which she said planned to buy $20 million worth. She called the gloves "a new and dangerous tool" that "will be in the hands of our least trained and most lawless law enforcement," and said that is "one of my biggest concerns." Earlier in her remarks she gave two other reasons for the ban: that the technology is unproven and already misused, and that the gloves are marketed as an answer to excessive-force litigation and make it harder to track how long a shock lasted.
Responding to
Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins said the gloves are largely untested in real-world encounters, that a man died after being repeatedly shocked with them while in custody, and that public safety technology must be proven safe before it is deployed.
“And finally, the largest planned purchase of these gloves is by ICE, which was announced, and that plans is actually to purchase $20 million worth of these gloves. This news and dangerous tool, but also just the fact that it is a new and dangerous tool, will be in the hands of our least trained and most lawless law enforcement. That is one of my biggest concerns, and that's also everyone's concern.”
Original video
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Can California ban ICE and other federal agents from using electric shock gloves, as AB 2760 does?
On September 29, 2026, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2760, which bars any law enforcement agency in California, including federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), from using a wearable electroshock device, meaning a weapon worn as a glove that delivers an electric shock. The law applies to state, local and federal agencies, requires a state Department of Justice study by January 1, 2029, and is repealed on January 1, 2030. It followed ICE's August 2026 sole-source contract of $16,700,640 for G.L.O.V.E. gloves from Compliant Technologies. Newsom and the bill's author, Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, defend the ban, and Sharp-Collins says the gloves have not been proven safe. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli says California has no jurisdiction over federal agents and that he advised the Department of Homeland Security to disregard the law, and the department says it will not abide by it. Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, the California State Sheriffs' Association, Republican legislators and the gloves' maker oppose the ban as unwise, and two UC Davis law professors say California likely lacks the power to bind federal officers. The disputed question is whether California can ban federal agents from using electric shock gloves. As of October 1, 2026, no court had ruled on AB 2760, and we found no lawsuit against it.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
The Assembly Democratic Caucus's video of the Capitol news conference at which Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins announced AB 2760 with other lawmakers on Thursday, August 27, 2026. The video is about 33 minutes long.
Reporting
About this source
ABC 10News (San Diego) report of August 28, 2026, the earliest report we found of the DHS statement on the California bill. It also reports ICE's posting of the contract notice on Thursday, August 27, and Sharp-Collins's remark that the bill had been changed to a three-year ban with a Justice Department study.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The Department of Homeland Security had posted a forecast on August 10 listing an estimated $10 million to $20 million for the gloves, and the Senate rewrote AB 2760 into the glove ban on August 21. The Senate Public Safety Committee approved the bill on August 26. ICE posted its contract notice on August 27, the day of the news conference.
After the quotation
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill the same day. Amendments on August 28 added the Justice Department study and the 2030 repeal. In a written statement on September 29 the author said "California should not wait for a tragedy before we act."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the ban as applied to federal officers, Sharp-Collins defends it by pointing to ICE's planned purchase and calling the gloves new and dangerous. The remarks answer the safety question and single out ICE officers as the users she is most concerned about, but they do not argue that California has the power to bind federal officers. We used Defended or excused because she supports the ban and ties it to the federal purchase. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, because in a later answer at the same event she acknowledged limits on what the state can regulate, which we record as a separate statement.
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More from this case
Read the full caseEssayli tells Newsom California has "no jurisdiction" over federal agents and says he advised DHS to disregard the shock-glove ban
“Governor, we’ve been through this already. If you want to regulate federal agents, you have to win a federal election. Until then, you have no jurisdiction. Accordingly, I have advised DHS to disregard your bill attempting to ban safe and effective less-lethal tools that agents need to escalate dangerous situations.”Read statement
Law professor Kevin Johnson says California has "very limited, if any, powers" over how federal officers are armed
“The state has very limited, if any, powers in dictating to the federal government how its officers are armed”Read statement
Newsom's office says California "cannot dictate federal immigration policy" but can set requirements for law-enforcement practices where federal enforcement operates in the state
“California cannot dictate federal immigration policy. But where federal immigration enforcement operates within California, the state can establish and enforce state-law requirements governing state property, state resources, detention facilities, public records, law-enforcement practices and access to state-administered programs.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Sharp-Collins says the gloves "will be in the hands of our least trained and most lawless law enforcement" as ICE plans to buy them". First published: 2026-10-01. Last updated: 2026-10-01. https://disputeindex.com/events/4155-at-the-august-27-2026-capitol-news-conference