UC Berkeley and UCSF Among 5 UC Campuses to Request New Military Equipment for Police

UC Berkeley and UCSF are among five University of California campuses requesting additional military equipment for their police departments — including drones and hazardous device robots — a move that comes just months after pro-Palestinian protests and encampments racked the university system.

Under state law, UC’s governing body must approve requests for such equipment each year. The vote to approve the requests will take place Thursday at the UC Board of Regents Compliance and Audit Committee meeting.

The demonstrations during the spring also prompted many campuses to revise their time, place and manner policies that govern student protests — a move that many students and faculty have criticized as overly restrictive of free speech.

“We know that what’s probably going to change is how these policies are enforced,” UC Student Association President Aditi Hariharan said. “We’re very worried to see the weapons request being such large numbers of weapons, especially because the thing that’s seeming to change this academic year is much stronger and more stringent enforcement of these time, place and manner policies and free speech restrictions.”

UC Berkeley is requesting a hazardous devices robot and a kinetic breaching tool for forced entry, as well as four drones. UCSF, meanwhile, is requesting three drones.

UC Berkeley Police Department Captain Sabrina Reich said the drones on her campus will be used for “purposes of fire mitigation and active emergency response,” citing two active shooting cases from this year on and near campus.

The kinetic breaching tool will be deployed “in an active threat, barricaded subject, or emergency situation,” Reich said.

The UCSF Police Department did not respond to requests for more information about how it intends to use the requested drones.

The largest requests for military equipment in the UC system come from UCLA and UC Merced, both of which requested munition and less-lethal firearms, also known as “anti-riot guns.” UCLA also requested thousands of rounds of pepper powder bullets.

UC Santa Cruz, the fifth campus, requested drones.

However, according to the UC Office of the President, calling this “military equipment,” as state law requires, is a misnomer because it’s not military-grade or designed for military use.

“The University’s use of this equipment provides UC police officers with nonlethal alternatives to standard-issue firearms, enabling them to deescalate situations and respond without the use of deadly force,” spokesperson Stett Holbrook said in a statement.

Holbrook also said the approval of the equipment is routine and “not related to any particular incident” — including the spring demonstrations.

At UC Berkeley, protesters camped on Sproul Plaza for weeks to urge the university to divest from Israel. Despite occasional altercations between protesters, police mostly watched from the sidelines and did not interact with demonstrators, resulting in few arrests. The police response was much more aggressive at UCLA, where dozens of students were arrested.

Although UC Berkeley and UCSF didn’t request additional firearms or munition, Hariharan, of the UC Student Association, said the surveillance capacity of drone equipment is still concerning — especially after students faced doxxing threats during the recent protests.

“It’s worrying to see new methods of surveillance being requested by the university without similar measures to protect student safety,” Hariharan said.

State law also requires individual campus police departments to host “at least one well-publicized and conveniently located community engagement meeting” for members of the public to ask questions about the use of military equipment. UC Berkeley will host its meeting on Oct. 8 at 5 p.m.

Last year, the systemwide cost of police military equipment was just shy of $80,000. It’s unclear how much this year’s requested equipment could cost.