"Following a years-long legal battle over Boston's limits on less-than-lethal crowd control, a Suffolk Superior Court judge has rolled back a city ordinance restricting when police can resort to methods such as tear gas and rubber bullets. Filed in August and first reported by The Boston Globe, Judge Jackie Cowin's order declared Ordinance 11-1.10 invalid and ruled that the City Council had overstepped its authority in trying to create policies regarding the police department's use of weapons."
"Signed into law in 2021, the ordinance required a police supervisor to personally witness acts of violence or property destruction, rule out other reasonable methods of deescalation, and issue multiple warnings over a loudspeaker before authorizing the use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, sponge grenades, or similar measures. The Boston Police Department's rules and procedures also tackle the use of less-lethal and non-lethal force, spelling out some policies and limitations."
Judge Jackie Cowin declared Ordinance 11-1.10 invalid after a years-long legal battle, finding the Boston City Council exceeded its authority by creating policies on police weapon use. The 2021 ordinance required a police supervisor to personally witness violence or property destruction, rule out other reasonable deescalation methods, and issue multiple loudspeaker warnings before authorizing tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, sponge grenades, or similar measures. The ordinance aimed to limit crowd-control methods at protests, demonstrations, or gatherings of more than 10 people. Supporters cited physical and mental harms to demonstrators and bystanders and past injuries, including a 2004 Emerson College student struck by a pepper pellet.
Read at Boston.com
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