"The use of devices to chain folks together, we want to prevent as much of that as we possibly can," said Public Safety Director Michael Huss, after appearing before council and successfully turning several skeptics into supporters.
In council, Mr. Huss raised the specter of summit protesters creating "sleeping dragons," in which people use pipes, locks, chains and sometimes concrete or other materials to secure themselves in formations that are hard for police to break. City police faced the formation in Lawrenceville in 2007.
"Inside of PVC pipe are their arms, and hands," said Mr. Huss. Using cutting tools on a pipe that contains peoples' limbs is "a big drain on our public safety resources" and "there is inherent danger involved."
He said police can tell the difference between a plumber and a protester.
"No one is trying to stop someone who needs to make a pipe repair from taking PVC pipe Downtown," he said. But if several people with pipes seem to be coming together in a protest hotspot? "We would like to have the police stop them, cite this ordinance, and eliminate the problem before we have to physically remove them."
"I'll vote for anything that's going to go and protect the protesters, the public, and the law enforcement officers," said Councilman Jim Motznik.
Council added language to make the ordinance temporary, expiring on Sept. 30.
Its passage means that until then, anyone possessing pipes, handcuffs, chains, carabiners, padlocks, noxious or toxic substances, gas masks, projectile launchers, human or animal waste or blood, rotten eggs, acid, gasoline, gases or sprays and alcohol, can be cited if they seem likely to try to block public areas or foil police crowd control.
"If someone possessed urine with the intent of throwing it at a public safety official, we need an ordinance to protect them from that," said Mr. Huss.
Council cast both tentative and final votes on the measure today. The final vote was 8-1, with William Peduto voting no.
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