Local Politics
  1. Home
  2. US
  3. California
  4. Berkeley
  5. Issues

Tear Gas Use Policy

At a glance

  • What: A resolution by Councilmember Kesarwani to let the Berkeley Police Department Special Response Team use tear gas for critical, life-threatening incidents only (still barred for crowd control) and to lift the COVID-19 era moratorium on smoke and OC (pepper) spray. It is paired with the Peace and Justice Commission's item to keep existing bans on chemical weapons, police dogs and helicopters.
  • Where it stands: On July 14, 2026 Council voted 5-4 to schedule items 24a and 24b for September 15, 2026, with supplemental material from Councilmember Blackaby and the Police Accountability Board. No decision on the substance yet.
  • Next: September 15, 2026 hearing (those minutes are not yet posted).

Detail

  • Item 24a, reviewed by the Public Safety Policy Committee, which sent it with a Qualified Positive recommendation: make the text explicit on permissible uses (defining "critical incident" and excluding crowd control), attach the relevant use policies for transparency, and develop an after-action reporting framework in line with Transparency Hub practices.

  • Item 24b: the Peace and Justice Commission's recommended policy - retain the 2020 bans on CS and OC chemical weapons and the 1982 bans on police dogs and helicopters, retain the 1997 requirement to publicly report each pepper spray use, and ask the City Manager to engage an academic institution (UC Berkeley, UCSF or Stanford) to study health impacts of tear gas, chemical weapons and canine support and alternatives. Continued from April 21, 2026. Its action follows item 24a.

  • First motion (Kesarwani/Humbert) to schedule 24a and 24b for September 15: Ayes - Kesarwani, Taplin, Bartlett, O'Keefe, Blackaby, Lunaparra, Humbert; Noes - Tregub, Ishii.

  • Motion to reconsider (Lunaparra/Ishii) carried 6-3: Ayes - Bartlett, Tregub, O'Keefe, Blackaby, Lunaparra, Ishii; Noes - Kesarwani, Taplin, Humbert.

  • Second vote on the same motion carried 5-4: Ayes - Kesarwani, Taplin, O'Keefe, Blackaby, Humbert; Noes - Bartlett, Tregub, Lunaparra, Ishii.

  • Item 23b, an identical listing of the Peace and Justice Commission item earlier on the agenda, was taken as no action (all ayes); see Police Canine Deployment Policy.

  • Supplemental material came from Blackaby and the Police Accountability Board, plus public letters on items 23a to 24b.

  • Related: on June 9, 2026 Council adopted on consent the second reading of an ordinance adding pepper spray to the police equipment subject to approval and reporting rules; see Pepper Spray Reporting Requirements.

Sources

Log

2026-07-14 - City Council (regular)

Items 24a and 24b scheduled for September 15, 2026 after a reconsideration; final vote 5-4.