Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Policing Equipment Report topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Police commission hears annual report on military-style equipment; limited operational use reported
Summary
The Police Commission received the department's annual report on equipment covered by state reporting requirements, including drone use, a BearCat armored vehicle and less-lethal tools. Staff said no policy violations or public complaints were reported.
The Santa Barbara Police Department told the Police Commission that it used a small portion of equipment covered by state reporting rules during the previous year and that there were no department policy violations or public complaints related to equipment use.
Lieutenant Nate Beltran and other staff presented the department’s inventory and operational counts under the state government-code reporting requirement for certain tactical equipment. They said the department treats the annual presentation as an open forum requirement and tracks costs and training for each item.
The department reported 34 operational uses of its unmanned aerial system (drone) in 2024; six deployments of the BearCat armored vehicle; one deployment of a pepper-ball launcher; and no operational uses of 40mm launchers, less-lethal shotguns, distraction devices, breaching shotguns, chemical agents or operational rifle uses. Staff said the department will replace (not add) 10 rifles in the coming year to refresh its stock. "We had 34 operational uses of [the unmanned aerial system] this year," one presenter said, and described typical uses such as building overwatch for barricaded suspects and interior searches to reduce risk to officers.
The department described its oversight and training: specialized units receive recurring instruction and equipment users attend required schools. Presenters said the department keeps a lifecycle inventory and rotates expendable items (for example, canisters used for training as they pass expiration). The department said it retains equipment and trains to be prepared for local incidents rather than to build capacity beyond city needs.
When commissioners asked about the phrase "military equipment," presenters said the term is a legal definition that encompasses many police tools and does not mean the items were acquired from the military. Staff also said the equipment is used infrequently, that SWAT training accounts for much of the usage and that the department coordinates with harbor patrol for marine incidents.
No complaints or policy violations tied to the equipment were reported in the presentation, and the commission did not take formal action on the inventory during the meeting.
