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Sacramento Council approves police military-equipment report amid calls to separate purchase approvals
Summary
The City Council voted to approve the Sacramento Police Departmentannual military equipment use report and policy but heard sustained calls from some council members and community speakers to decouple approval of new equipment purchases from the report.
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday approved the Sacramento Police Department(SPD) 2024-25 annual military equipment use report and updated military equipment use (MEU) policy after months of review and public outreach, while several council members pressed to separate eventual purchase approvals from the annual policy vote.
The vote completed the administrative review of SPDuse of items the state classifies as —military equipment— and accepted the department—s usage data for the period May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2025. Councilmember Eric Guerra moved to adopt the report and policy; the motion passed with no recorded no votes and one absence.
SPD Captain Clay Buchanan presented changes the department made in response to prior council direction and community feedback, including expanded usage data by council and police district, demographic breakdowns tied to incidents, and an appendix addressing purchase questions raised by the Police Review Commission. Buchanan said the report shows 398 incidents in which military equipment was involved and that uncrewed aerial systems (drones) represented the single largest usage category.
"During the current reporting period ... military equipment was involved on 398 of those incidents," Buchanan said. He told council officers responded to approximately 142,000 calls for service and that 1,205 individual pieces of equipment were counted because SPD records each piece and discharge separately.
Police Review Commission Vice Chair Manuel Korps and Commissioner Korps both told the council the commission supports the report going forward to council review but urged changes to the statutory timeline that forces an annual deadline. "Given the timeline that is currently in place, it's not ample time for sufficient transparency and community feedback," Korps said, asking for a more flexible schedule.
Several community members urged different outcomes. Keyon Bliss, a former Police Review Commission chair, urged the council to reject or separate the purchase approvals from the policy, citing what he said was a roughly $556,740 list of potential purchases in SPD—s submission and concerns about procurement volumes and transparency. "Simply rubber-stamping $500,000 in new military equipment buried in a 200-page staff report defeats the purpose of AB 481—s transparency purposes," Bliss said.
Other public commenters supported the department. Matt King said the tools are necessary, citing a recent drive-by shooting in his neighborhood and first-responder safety, and Christina Rogers noted that paramedics often must wait for police to secure scenes before entering. John Morales described recent enforcement actions and argued SPD needs the equipment to keep officers and the public safe.
Councilmembers debated a procedural option advanced by Councilmember Mai Vang to approve the policy but withhold approval of any new purchases requiring new funding. City Attorneypresented legal guidance that the council can split approvals in principle, but if the council fails to approve at least the annual policy and report by the statutory deadline the department would face operational restrictions and potential legal exposure.
Guerra moved to adopt the report and policy as submitted and directed staff to work with SPD and the city attorney to consider decoupling purchase approvals from the annual policy in the following year to ease the deadline pressures. Councilmembers praised improvements in data and community engagement but emphasized the need for clearer "why" explanations for particular equipment and more detail about when specific categories may be used.
Buchanan said the approximately $556,740 of potential purchases reflects a mix of replenishment, end-of-life replacement and a limited number of new drone systems that would be purchased only if the department implements a full drone-first-responder program. He added that much of the requested equipment is for multi-year training stocks and replenishment, not one-off acquisitions.
The council vote adopted the report and policy; council members asked staff and SPD to return next year with a clearer breakdown on the necessity and usage rationale for equipment categories, and to pursue changes to the annual timeline and to consider separating procurement approvals when possible.
