> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Divided Berkeley council upholds police tear gas ban - URL: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/09/30/community/divided-berkeley-council-upholds-police-tear-gas-ban/ - Published: 2026-09-30T23:56:09.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-01T00:08:03.000Z - Description: "Now is not the time," said Mayor Adena Ishii. "I think it's really important to take a look at where we are in our history." - Author: Emilie Raguso - Tags: Community, BPD, Policing, #articles Berkeley officials voted 5-4 Tuesday to uphold the city's ban on police use of tear gas, in place since 2020. Councilman Terry Taplin cast the decisive fifth vote, urging his colleagues to spend more time on the issue, particularly as the city's [new police oversight director](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/09/15/community/berkeley-mary-opler-new-police-oversight-director/) gets settled. "Now is not the time," said [Mayor Adena Ishii](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/adena-ishii/). "I think it's really important to take a look at where we are in our history." [The item](https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-09-29%20Special%20Item%2001a%20Resolution%20Reinstating%20the%20Berkeley%20Police.pdf?ref=berkeleyscanner.com), from Councilwoman Rashi Kesarwani, with refinements by Councilman Brent Blackaby, asked the city to allow BPD's Special Response Team to use tear gas for [barricaded subjects, hostage situations and serving high-risk warrants](https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-09-29%20Special%20Item%2001a%20Resolution%20Reinstating%20the%20Berkeley%20Police.pdf?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) when alternatives were not possible. Berkeley officials [put the ban in place in 2020](https://www.berkeleyside.org/2020/06/10/officials-ban-tear-gas-in-berkeley-approve-other-police-reforms?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) in the aftermath of George Floyd's death. Community members turned out in force Tuesday and at a prior Berkeley council meeting to express their deep opposition to the item, citing health risks, distrust of police, increasing militarization and a lack of demonstrated need. One [Berkeley police](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/berkeley-police-department/) officer who spoke during public comment in favor of the item said BPD's tactical team is the only one in the nation that's prohibited from using tear gas. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd5eVsYv-8B/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Berkeley Police Association (@berkeleypoliceassociation)](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd5eVsYv-8B/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) . (The Scanner reviewed a recording of Tuesday's meeting due to a scheduling conflict.) The council members who supported the item — Rashi Kesarwani, Shoshana O'Keefe, Brent Blackaby and Mark Humbert — emphasized that it would continue to be banned in crowd control situations such as demonstrations. "That is exactly what this item spells out very clearly," Kesarwani said. "This is for the Special Response Team, who put their lives on the line for critical, life-threatening incidents." "No, it doesn't happen every year, it doesn't happen six times a year," she continued. "We shouldn't have to meet a frequency threshold to save somebody's life." Blackaby said he had asked himself: "Will the narrow use of tear gas in these targeted high-risk situations keep us safer? And in my view, the answer is yes." He said no other California city had an "outright ban on tear gas" like Berkeley's. Local authorities have also raised concerns about how Berkeley's ban would limit the ability of outside agencies to provide mutual aid in Berkeley in a critical situation. O'Keefe said the city's existing accountability structures would ensure the rules are followed — and allow penalties if they are not. "We have to trust our police to do their jobs and follow the rules that we as the Council lay out for them," she said. "If we don't have that trust, we have way bigger problems." But the majority — Mayor Adena Ishii, Ben Bartlett, Igor Tregub, Cecilia Lunaparra and Terry Taplin — said they could not support the item. Ishii said, for her, it wasn't about trust. "I want to make sure it's really clear that I don't think that our police officers are going to misuse this," she said. "We have a federal government who has been sending officers after unarmed civilians. We've seen the use of tear gas being abused across the country." Lunaparra pushed back against the idea that tear gas could make the community safer. "Tear gas is not a reasonable tool. It is banned in international warfare," she said. "I have yet to see an argument that bringing tear gas back into our city will make our residents safer as a whole." She and others said that, when it was [used on protesters on Telegraph Avenue](https://www.berkeleyside.org/2015/06/11/police-report-mistakes-challenges-in-berkeley-protests?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) in 2014, it drifted into open windows and affected people throughout the neighborhood. "Tear gas is not a precise tool," she said. "Even if BPD only deploys it in situations deemed necessary, it is very likely that it will quickly spread and harm others." Bartlett concurred and said his constituents opposed the item "without fail, 100%." He and others noted that Berkeley police had only tear gas for a barricaded subject once in 40 years, and said it felt like "a waste of goodwill" to remove the ban under the circumstances. "I just don't feel the burden's been met to justify the rancor, justify the fear or justify the erosion of goodwill," he said. ## Sign up for The Berkeley Scanner Authoritative public safety and politics news coverage in Berkeley, CA Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.