SEATTLE — A Seattle City Council committee approved the use of a limited number of so-called "less lethal" weapons by the Seattle Police Department, deployed primarily to control crowd movement during protests. The bill was amended to put greater guardrails on how and when the department uses blast ball grenades.

The vote is a departure from past councils, who sought to greatly restrict the use of these weapons — such as blast balls, tear gas and pepper spray — in the wake of the department's response to the chaotic demonstrations of 2020. Previous legislation had all but barred their use.

Tuesday's tally was 3-1, with Councilmember Cathy Moore voting against and Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth abstaining. Councilmembers Bob Kettle, Sara Nelson and Rob Saka voted in favor. The bill will likely go to the full council on Feb. 4.

The vote serves at least two purposes: to lay out a clear process by which Seattle police may use less-lethal weapons and to check one of the final boxes on the longstanding federal oversight of the police department.

"The flexibility and ability to adjust is imperative so that we're ready to respond in the case of violence," said Kettle, who is also the chair of the public safety committee.

The bill will now go to the full council for approval, despite concerns voiced by many who participated in recent protests or who advocated on behalf of those who did.

"Let's be clear: Any and all of these crowd control measures are weapons and weapons are designed to threaten and oppress those without institutional power," Cat Munsen, policy associate for Real Change, said during public comment.

In practice, the weapons had never actually been banned. The original law was first blocked by a federal judge before a revised version got caught in the legal labyrinth of court oversight over the Seattle Police Department. During that time, the Seattle Police Department relied on its own internal policies regulating their use. The department has not used blast balls since October 2020, according to Chief Operating Officer Brian Maxey.

Nevertheless, Tuesday's proposal enshrines the use of these weapons in city code.

The Seattle Police Department's response to protests has been among the most stubborn issues for a department seeking to emerge from oversight of a federal judge. Although the department faced scrutiny for years, their tactics came under a microscope in 2020.

Of particular concern to the public was its use of tear gas and blast balls — grenade-like objects that emit loud booms and have been known to occasionally injure protesters. The city settled with a group of protesters for $10 million after they sued, alleging they'd been hurt by Seattle police's use of the weapons.

The previous city council responded, essentially banning their use in the city over strong pushback from the department's leadership at the time, who warned it would result in more dangerous weapons being used.

Tuesday's bill would repeal that ban, while also laying out specific escalators to when the department could use certain weapons. Tear gas, for example, could only be used as a last resort and requires the mayor declare an emergency to authorize its use.

Although public commenters and former protest participants voiced broad opposition to the new policies, the Community Police Commission — formed to act as a voice for the community in the complex world of police reform — said it understood the rationale behind the proposed changes.

"We support the overall approach of the Mayor's proposed legislation, which focuses on overarching values that guide (Seattle Police Department) deployment and intervention in crowd management situations, including but not limited to speech and assembly events, and which does not place outright prohibitions on the use of specific tools," wrote Joel Merkel, co-chair of the commission.

The commission did raise concerns about how and when the department could use blast balls and whether neighboring jurisdictions, when called upon to assist in Seattle, would also be required to follow the city's restrictions.

Councilmembers Moore and Saka both proposed heightening the restrictions for when the department can use blast balls to the same level as tear gas, and requiring neighboring jurisdictions to follow the same protocol. Moore further proposed that the mayor personally must authorize their use.

"To me, the use of blast balls and the potential injury and the potential risk to life is of a level of seriousness that the highest level elected official in the city should approve their use," she said.

Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess said those changes would have unintended consequences, causing hesitancy for other departments to help Seattle police and forcing officers to use possibly more damaging tools. "Restricting blast ball use or requiring time-consuming procedural steps before their use could force incident commanders to escalate higher on the force continuum," he told the council.

The council opted to require a civil emergency before using blast balls, but stopped short of mandating specific mayoral approval.

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