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San Jose council accepts police military-equipment report; authorizes purchases amid public opposition
Summary
The council accepted the San Jose Police Department—s military equipment annual report for 2024 and authorized authorization to purchase listed equipment (drones, robotics, bomb mitigation, a chemical agent deployment system) contingent on appropriation; public commenters criticized use of less-lethal munitions.
The San Jose City Council on Nov. 18 accepted the police department—s annual military equipment report and authorized staff to seek purchase and appropriation for specified items for fiscal years 2025—26, after a staff presentation and public comment.
Captain Randy Torres (Special Operations) presented the report required under the state law enacted in 2021. He said the 2024 record showed 189 military-equipment events with 246 deployments across categories and detailed the department—s UAS (unmanned aerial system) activity: "671 deployments," of which "505 were used for police activity" and the remainder for training. Torres said there were zero complaints, zero government-code violations and no internal-affairs investigations related to military equipment deployments in 2024.
A public commenter raised a direct personal objection. "I was shot in the face 5 years ago with a 44 millimeter less than lethal munition," a speaker told the council, and asked how items such as pepper munitions and a robotic dog would be used and funded. The speaker urged the council to reconsider purchases of weaponized or crowd-control items.
Chief Paul Joseph acknowledged concerns about appropriate use and said the request focuses on public-safety missions and officer safety, describing bomb robots and remote tools as risk-reduction for explosive-disposal work: "the greater distance a human being has from an explosive device, the less chance they have of injury." Councilmember Erdogan moved approval; the motion passed unanimously with one member absent noted in the record.
The council—s action accepts the annual report and authorizes the purchase of equipment categories listed in staff attachments, with purchases to proceed only after necessary appropriations. Staff emphasized that some funding is in the department—s operating budget and remaining acquisitions await appropriation.
