Some UC campus police will get new military equipment in wake of protests
DAVIS — The UC Board of Regents approved new military equipment for some of its campus police departments just as the new school year begins.
The decision comes in the wake of some violence during protests on some campuses last school year, although the UC Board of Regents issued a statement saying the military equipment discussion was routine.
"This is a routine agenda item that is not related to any particular incident," said Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President.
UC Davis did not ask for more military equipment for the upcoming year. It did list its current inventory for the UC Board of Regents, including two drones, 20 semi-automatic rifles, 9,500 rounds and less lethal options of weapons.
Stanford McConnahey is a UC Davis alum who organized protests on campus last year. He is unsure how protests this year will unfold.
"We can only expect that students are going to continue organizing and agitating," McConnahey said. "I think that across the whole UC system, we saw a range of different responses in terms of hands off reponse to much more brutal responses."
Omar Altamimi is a senior policy advocate for the Council on American Islamic Relations. He believes UC Davis' notorious handling of the "Occupy" protests in 2011—when a campus officer pepper sprayed students sitting in the quad—is guiding their policy now.
"Pepper spray incident, terrible," Altamimi said. "I think that it still influences their decision today to not ask for more military equipment."
UC Davis classes begin next week.
