Overview
- Omaha Public Schools sent a letter to Mayor John Ewing Jr. and OPD Chief Todd Schmaderer on Tuesday asking that school resource officers be immediately prohibited from carrying wearable electric shock gloves on school grounds.
- The Omaha Police Department said it will honor OPS’s request on school property while officers will continue to carry standard equipment such as tasers, chemical spray, batons, and firearms.
- Bellevue Police declined OPS’s request and said its SROs will continue to carry the gloves, while other local districts including Westside and Millard say they were told about potential deployment earlier but report the devices have not been used.
- Parents, students and some school board members raised safety and transparency concerns about the gloves at an August school board meeting, noting the devices are advised against for children and people with disabilities and that families learned of the plan only days before school started.
- National reporting that the Department of Homeland Security planned purchases of similar G.L.O.V.E. devices for federal use has intensified local scrutiny and may shape how other districts and agencies decide whether to deploy the technology.