Soledad council renews police military-equipment policy, accepts annual report

The Soledad City Council unanimously accepted the Soledad Police Department’s Fiscal Year 2024–25 annual military equipment use report and renewed the city’s ordinance and policy on use and acquisition of military‑style equipment, council members said at a public meeting on Aug. 6, 2025. City Attorney staff briefed the council on the annual review requirements that followed state legislation establishing local oversight and public-review procedures for police acquisition and use of military equipment. The city’s policy (Policy 706) is drawn from a standard law‑enforcement policy vendor and, according to the staff report, had no substantive changes since the ordinance was adopted in 2022. The police department’s annual report (presented under the meeting notice as Resolution No. 62 71) states the department has not acquired any new military equipment for the reporting period. The department’s inventory was described as 13 patrol rifles (M‑16 pattern) and associated ammunition; the report said the equipment is used for training and is deployed only in higher‑risk incidents. Staff also noted the department reported no complaints or documented violations of use during the fiscal year and that annual public materials and the policy were posted online in advance of the meeting. The council held the required community meeting for public comment; no members of the public raised objections during the in-chamber or remote public-comment period. The council then passed the staff resolution to renew the ordinance and accept the report.