Berkeley is considering changing its 20-year policy banning police from using pepper spray during demonstrations.
The proposal was hammered out by Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin and Police Chief Andrew Greenwood ahead of upcoming speaking engagements on the UC Berkeley campus by right-wing talk show host Ben Shapiro and conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.
The longstanding policy forbids using the chemical irritant as a form of crowd control. The change would allow police to use pepper spray in crowd situations, but only against specific individuals committing acts of violence. Arreguin told KQED that the amendment would not allow using pepper spray against non-violent protesters, passive resisters, those resisting arrest or those involved in violence against property.
Chief Greenwood requested the change, citing “a series of coordinated attacks by extremists in Berkeley [that] have resulted in violent riots, injuries and the destruction of property.”
In his report to the City Council, Greenwood details several demonstrations this year, which featured violent clashes between large groups of masked anti-facists and right-wing protesters. Greenwood argued “the emergence of tactics involving weapons, shields, and the large-scale, coordinated maneuver of large groups of masked individuals" ... require the Berkeley Police Department to be prepared and properly equipped “to protect free speech and keep our community safe.”