California panel recommends limits to police crowd control

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 1: Protesters run away as police shoot tear gas and flash grenades to disperse the crowd on Broadway near the Oakland Police Department during the fourth day of protests over George Floyd's death by the Minneapolis police in Oaklan

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday released a report urging better communication and restraint by police officers days after police and members of an unruly crowd were injured following the Los Angeles Lakers' latest basketball championship.

The report also warns that the use of tactical weapons for crowd control can escalate the sort of violence they are intended to deter.

Newsom sought the recommendations after months of nationwide demonstrations followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. But California's largest police unions have called them unrealistic, and a legislator from Newsom's own Democratic Party criticized several of his recent police reform vetoes.