KETV obtains emails from 2023 notifying districts, including OPS, about shock gloves

KETV Investigates is getting to the bottom of the breakdown in communication over the use of shock gloves by school resource officers in Omaha Public Schools.

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KETV obtains emails from 2023 notifying districts, including Omaha Public Schools, about G.L.O.V.E.

OMAHA, Neb. —

KETV Investigates is getting to the bottom of the breakdown in communication over the use of shock gloves by school resource officers in Omaha Public Schools.

OPS Superintendent Matthew Ray said leadership and the board should have been made aware, but Omaha police said they did communicate with district leadership.

KETV’s Waverle Monroe obtained emails revealing communication began years prior and included district leadership.

Emails obtained by KETV Investigates show that communication about the shock gloves started on Jan. 24, 2023, when an Omaha police lieutenant introduced the gloves to Millard, Elkhorn, and Westside school districts. The OPS school safety supervisor was included on the email chain, which stated the supervisor “is already aware as the SROs at Bryan Middle and High School already have these gloves.”

Omaha police Chief Todd Schmaderer defended his department and the SRO program, saying, “The communication breakdown was not on the end of the Omaha Police Department, and I don’t think that has been fully fleshed out. And I’m a little disappointed in that.”

OPS Superintendent Matthew Ray has repeatedly stated he was not notified about the shock gloves, though another department head was.

“If something is added to a police officer’s belt or tools, ideally it should be communicated to central officers at the TAC building and involve the superintendent of the Omaha Public Schools,” Ray said.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: Bellevue Police Department says its school resource officers will still carry shock gloves

Schmaderer emphasized the importance of transparency, saying, “They should have just come right out and said that rather than leave the aura that somehow we hit everybody with the ice-cold bucket of water, which we did not.”

The emails showed Millard and OPS responded to the lieutenant’s communication. Millard’s director of student services questioned how the gloves align with schools’ “corporal punishment policies.” The lieutenant responded, citing an OPD policy section that permits the use of shock gloves and noted they could “potentially result in not having to resort to a taser, baton strikes.”

The OPS school safety supervisor replied, stating, “As a district, we looked at it from the standpoint of this being a tool that PD determines is necessary for their law enforcement work.”

This response contrasts with Ray’s claim that he was unaware of the gloves’ use.

“It sure did identify that there’s some gaps and information that has flown through the organization or through the system,” Ray said.

He added that an SRO’s primary contact is with the school principal and that communication does not always escalate to higher levels.

“We’ll definitely have to review as a system where we fell short,” Ray said.

Schmaderer expressed frustration over the situation, saying, “Quite frankly, Waverle, they do not feel supported by OPS, and the mayor and I want that to change. We are frustrated in that because this is a vilification that was unnecessary and undeserving, and up to this point, has not been corrected.”

Two incidents from last year involved SROs using shock gloves.

One occurred at Omaha South High School, but details remain private as the individual was released.

The other incident took place at OPS’ Integrated Learning Center off 25th Street and Meredith Avenue, where a student reportedly became angry, threw a chair at an SRO, and punched them in the head. The report states the SRO used the shock glove for one second, then again for two to three seconds, after the student failed to comply with commands to stop fighting. The student eventually put his hands behind his back, and no injuries were reported.

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