ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Police wants the communities it serves to know why they felt it necessary to use chemical agents such as pepper spray and CS gas against protesters at certain times this week.

As protests continued Friday, some demonstrators we spoke to said getting their message out while being faced with police officers in riot gear can be very intimidating.

“We really just want unity, we want to feel like the police are here to protect us, not here to be against us, not to hurt us,” said UCF student and protester Charvane Owens-Tatum.

But Orlando police leaders say even when protesters are peaceful, things can quickly change.

Earlier this week, they released body camera footage of protesters throwing bottles and smoke grenades back at officers last weekend.

Then, on Tuesday as officers released pepper gas and CS gas to disperse protesters after the curfew, one officer was hit in the face with a brick, breaking his nose.

Orlando Police Captain Rich Lane says they’ve never seen demonstrations like this here before.

“We’ve never deployed gas before, ever, so no, this is brand new to the city of Orlando,” Lane said.

According to Lane, officers only deployed that gas because people started throwing rocks and bottles.

Otherwise, he says they’ve been able to keep the level of violence much lower than other cities and states.

But protest organizer Aston Mack says it’s police use of force in the first place that provoked people to start throwing rocks and bottles.

“If you don’t want rocks thrown at you, don’t come in riot gear, don’t come escalate it with gas masks," Mack said. "Stand with us, walk with us, tell us that you support us."

His group has come up with several policy suggestions that they would like Central Florida law enforcement agencies to adopt, including demilitarizing police and getting better training and certification for officers.

“Cops are not warriors, they’re supposed to be our servants,” Mack said.