As Madison council prepares to consider banning tear gas, attorney general candidate and others fear it will hamper law enforcement
MADISON - The Madison City Council will consider an ordinance Tuesday prohibiting police officers from using tear gas, mace or projectile devices for crowd control.
Republican attorney general candidate Eric Toney said if the measure passes, law enforcement officers from surrounding communities could stop providing mutual aid.
"When I first saw the proposed ordinance, I didn't think it was real. I had to put my eyes on it," Toney said during a news conference outside the state Capitol. "This puts an unnecessary and dangerous burden on law enforcement."
Toney, joined by Dane County Board supervisor Jeff Weigand, Dane County sheriff candidate Anthony Hamilton, and Jeff Twing from the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police, called on the city council to "abandon" the proposal in the interest of public safety for the city of Madison.
Alderwoman Juliana Bennett, who represents the campus-area 8th District, will propose the ordinance at Tuesday's council meeting. She said Toney is overreacting.
Bennett said pulling mutual aid is something other departments are just threatening.
"I would be shocked if people who are sworn to protect and serve didn't do their duty," Bennett said. "Some people can be overly dramatic sometimes and that's not surprising."
The Madison City Council has considered banning tear gas for two years, since clashes between Madison police and protesters following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
In a Sept. 11 blog post, Bennett said the police use chemical weapons too liberally. But she acknowledged getting an ordinance passed will be an uphill battle. She said amendments could include making an exception when officers are threatened with physical harm or when significant property damage exists, according to her blog.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, who took over in February 2021, said chemical weapons should be "tools of last resort, relied on only in specific circumstances." But he did not want them banned.
Barnes said most protests in Madison typically are peaceful, but there were several instances of severe property damage, violent behavior, arson, and other criminal acts during the Floyd protests.
"Officers were injured, our city-county building was the target of a Molotov bombing, and over 75 businesses experienced significant property loss," Barnes said. "Now the definition of 'significant,' has come under some scrutiny as some elected officials have applied their own meaning to this term."
More:Madison cleans up after violence erupts following a peaceful protest over the death of George Floyd
In 2020, the Milwaukee Police Department was also asked by the city's Fire and Police Commission to explain its use of chemical weapons for crowd control over six days.
As a result, the department's standard operating procedure was changed to eliminate use of pepper spray during "peaceful" demonstrations.
"A peaceful demonstration is defined as a gathering of people expressing a position in a cooperative manner without violation of the law," according to the Milwaukee department.
Corrinne Hess can be reached at chess@gannett.com. Follow her @corrihess