The move comes after three civilian police watchdog groups urged city leaders to do so to build public trust.
SEATTLE — The Seattle mayor has banned the police use of tear gas as protests continue in the city and nationally over the killing of George Floyd.
Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a news conference Friday afternoon that the ban would continue for 30 days.
The move came hours after three civilian police watchdog groups urged city leaders to do so to build public trust and until the department adopts policies and training for the use of the chemical agent, The Seattle Times reported.
“After hearing concerns about the use of CS gas for crowd control purposes earlier this week… we decided we were going to suspend its use for 30 days,” Best said.
During the 30 days, officials will review police crowd control policies, she said.
The Seattle area’s largest labor group also said this week it will expel the Seattle Police Officers Guild later this month unless the union admits that racism is a problem in law enforcement and agrees to address that problem in negotiating its next contract with the city.
