Two Boston police unions filed a civil lawsuit on July 18 to stop the city from enforcing an ordinance that makes it harder for police to use non-lethal weapons for crowd control.
It is the latest law enforcement pushback against a national trend of growing restrictions on police usage of non-lethal weapons following the protests brought about by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.
The lawsuit (pdf) argues that according to the Boston police commissioner’s statute, the commissioner—not City Hall or city council—has complete control over rules and regulations for its police force.
“We will not stand silent while our city council picks and chooses what they want from our officers based on politics and public opinion rather than public safety,” according to plaintiffs Boston Police Superior Officers Federation and Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society in a press release….