Adam Sennott
Wicked Local
City officials will consider the possibility of amending municipal code to restrict the police department’s use of chemical crowd control agents, like tear gas, and kinetic impact projectiles.
Councilors voted Monday night to send the issue to the Ordinance Committee.
The proposed ordinance would prohibit Cambridge police and other law enforcement officers from using chemical crowd control agents against those engaged in a protest, demonstration, or other gathering of more than 10 persons.
Kinetic impact projectiles would also be prohibited unless authorized by a captain, or higher ranking official, who is at the scene of ongoing acts of violence that they have personally witnessed and have determined can’t be controlled in any other way and that de-escalation efforts would not be successful, the order said.