5-312 - FORCE DURING CIVIL DISTURBANCES

5-312 FORCE DURING CIVIL DISTURBANCES

(08/17/07) (06/16/20)

1. Civil disturbances are unique situations that often require special planning and tactics to best bring an unlawful situation under effective control. Crowd control weapons include, but are not limited to, chemical agents, rubber bullets, flash-bangs, batons, riot sticks, and marking rounds.

2. During protests and demonstrations, authorization for crowd control weapons shall only come from the Chief of Police, or if the Chief is unavailable, the Chief's designee at the rank of Deputy Chief or above.

3. In civil disturbances that are not protests or demonstrations, sworn MPD employees shall not deploy crowd-control weapons until they have been authorized by the on-scene incident commander or there is an immediate need to protect oneself or another from apparent physical harm.

4. The incident commander shall ensure that any authorization for crowd control weapons is documented in the incident report, including the person who authorized the use of crowd control weapons. MPD shall retain such documentation for a period of not less than seven years.