Santa Ana council accepts late military-equipment reports; votes 4-3 to receive files

Santa Ana City Council on Tuesday voted 4-3 to receive and file three annual military-equipment use reports covering 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25 and to reaffirm the city's 2022 ordinance governing such equipment.

The move formally accepted reports the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) filed late under state law and prompted extended public comment and council debate about whether the department's use of less-lethal launchers, armored vehicles and other equipment had eroded public trust.

Commander Mark Sorensen of SAPD gave the council a line-by-line accounting of the 2024-25 report and explained the department's corrective actions. He said the department recorded 30 incidents in 2024-25 in which defined military equipment was deployed, including "19 deployments of patrol rifles, nine deployments of 40-millimeter less-lethal launchers, six deployments of SWAT rifles, eight deployments of the Teradyne armored rescue vehicle and one deployment of a borrowed drone from another agency." He told…