UC police get approval for more weapons and equipment, including ammunition, pepper-balls, drones

The University of California board of regents on Wednesday approved requests to restock weapons and equipment at five campus police departments, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The resupply includes drones, pepper-balls and rifle rounds, according to the newspaper. The five campuses receiving the restock are UCLA, Irvine, Santa Barbara, San Diego and San Francisco.

The requests come as college campuses nationwide face scrutiny over their response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year.

UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has left his job after criticism for his officers' response to violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

UCLA had drawn widespread criticism for how it handled dispersing an encampment of Israel-Hamas war protesters in 2024.

One night, counterprotesters attacked the encampment, throwing traffic cones and firing pepper spray, with fighting that continued for hours, injuring more than a dozen people, before police stepped in. The next day, after hundreds defied orders to leave, more than 200 people were arrested. Later, Jewish students said demonstrators in encampments blocked them from getting to class.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.