UC police ask for weapons, Stanford reiterates protest rules

BERKELY, Calif. - Police at University of California campuses want the regents to sign off on plans to buy new weapons and ammunition, while Stanford has reiterated rules for protesters.

In a proposal before the UC board of regents on Thursday, police departments from five UC campuses are asking for more drones, projectile launchers, sponge bullets, and other crowd control measures, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

A state law requires law enforcement agencies to publicly request any new weapons.

The departments include UC Berkeley, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Merced and UCLA. Their proposals don't mention protests, but each of those campuses saw student protests last spring over the war in Gaza. 

Meanwhile, Stanford Unversity sent out a message to students and staff establishing rules for protests and behavior on campus.

Most notably, the school is banning any overnight camping on campus and requiring anyone remove any face coverings and identify themselves if a Stanford official asks.

Many of the rules were already on the books, but now, the university says it will be enforcing them more strictly.

"Stanford's campus rules are designed to allow the expression of the widest range of expressions and viewpoints," Stanford University Provost Jenny Martinez said in a video. "We want our students to have every opportunity to participate in the exchange of ideas, and to understand the time, place and manner of the rules that govern activities around Stanford's campus."