Photograph by Nigel Oliphant
In recent years, we have seen a shift in the attitude of law enforcement here in the United States; our good old doughnut-loving comrades have been replaced with a virtual militia. American police are being trained as an army whose sole purpose is to defeat its own citizens. Berkeley City Council recently voted to allow the use of pepper spray by the Berkeley Police Department (BPD), specifically to combat protesters. Additionally, as of December 2018, San Francisco will begin equipping its police with tasers. Berkeley, a city of demonstration, will certainly be negatively affected by such militarization; equipped with their new toys, the police will happily abuse the general public, as they have done time and time again.
Due to the stamina and willpower of Berkeley residents, this new policy will by no means faze their desire to protest. Yvette Felarca, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School teacher and prominent Bay Area activist has said, “The new policy won’t deter me or many other people from protesting. However, the use of pepper spray and other military gadgets endanger the community.” The abundance of protesters here increases the likelihood that people will be abused by the police, and, as Felarca confirms, that number will not go down out of fright. Allowing the use of pepper spray under certain conditions essentially enables the police to use it whenever they want, if they can make a sufficient claim that there was something threatening or illegal.
According to a 2015 study by Berkeley Copwatch, although African Americans constitute less than eight percent of Berkeley’s population, they made up thirty percent of those stopped by police. It’s easy to believe that the Bay Area is a bubble of progressiveness, but that’s not the case. Police here still target people of color, and giving them more weapons that they can use to do so will complicate the dilemma and put students in danger.
It’s clear that we as a nation have a problem with our law enforcement. The Council’s decision has unfortunately brought the issue home to Berkeley, compromising our safety. Thanks to this policy, a chapter of domestic terror is poised to begin in the Bay Area.