UC police seek approval for more pepper balls, sponge rounds, launchers, drones

UCLA police, who were called on to handle some of the nation's largest campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war last spring, are asking for approval to double their stockpile of pepper balls and sponge rounds, obtain eight more projectile launchers and purchase three new drones. The University of California Board of Regents will consider the requests by UCLA, along with the other nine UC campus police departments, on Thursday. All California law enforcement agencies are required by state law to report annually on the acquisition and use of weapons characterized as "military equipment." A UC spokesman called the police requests a "routine agenda item" not tied to protests or other particular incidents. "All of the campus's requests are for non-lethal alternatives to standard-issue firearms, enabling officers to de-escalate situations and respond without the use of deadly force," UC spokesman Stett Holbrook said in a statement.