PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council Thursday passed a bill banning the use of tear gas on protesters. The vote came after a lengthy discussion about the bill that sometimes turned heated.
Council members argued for about 45 minutes over whether the bill hampered the Philadelphia Police Department’s ability to handle civil unrest.
Councilmember David Oh maintained that the bill’s prohibition on nonlethal force against First Amendment protected activity was too vague, since the protests that inspired the bill sometimes became violent.
“They cannot break the law and violate other people’s rights and we are coming into a discussion now about what is a peaceful protest. Because I feel it’s peaceful, it should be peaceful?” he said.
Several council members challenged his objections, including Kenyatta Johnson, who seemed to take personal offense, and Council President Darrell Clarke had to intervene.
“Guys, can we get a little order? We’re in a council session,” Clarke said.
The bill, which passed 14 to 3, was proposed in response to police use of tear gas in the summer Black Lives Matter protests. The city is now in the midst of another round of protests triggered by the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr.
Police reform has been high on City Council’s agenda, even before the summer protests.
They put two questions on Tuesday’s ballot on the matter: one creating a Citizen Police Oversight Commission, the other banning illegal stop and frisk.
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas proposed a new measure barring police from stopping drivers for minor violations, like broken tail lights.
“There’s nothing like that feeling in your gut or how your heart beats a little faster when a cop’s been following you for a few blocks and you know you didn’t do anything wrong, so nobody should have to experience that. We want to restore trust between communities and police,” Thomas said.
Council also agreed to hold hearings on new strategies for police handling of mental health crises.