Monterey police detail AB 481 inventory, say they will ask council to approve two command vehicles

Assistant Chief Mike Bruno of the Monterey Police Department opened an AB 481 town hall and outlined the department's inventory of equipment, recent uses and a planned request to the City Council for two supervisor command vehicles.

"It's for the military equipment funding acquisition and use," Bruno said, summarizing the statute known as AB 481, which was signed Sept. 30, 2021 and is codified in the Government Code to increase transparency, accountability and oversight for acquisition and use of military equipment.

Bruno walked through the statute's broad list of equipment, noting it covers drones (both commercial and law-enforcement types), armored and tracked vehicles, command-and-control vehicles, breaching tools, and firearms of .50 caliber and greater. He clarified the list describes what AB 481 defines as military equipment, and that some listed items are not necessarily held by the department.

On local policy, Bruno said MPD follows Policy 706, originally adopted by ordinance in April 2022 and renewed annually, and that the department's annual military-equipment report and policy are posted on montereypolice.org for public review. He said the City Council must review the purchase-and-use ordinance each year.

Bruno provided inventory counts: "We have 61 patrol rifles," he said, explaining the department normally maintains 53 but purchased eight last year and is in the process of removing eight older rifles to return to 53. He listed other equipment assigned to department and regional teams: less-lethal shotguns converted for beanbag rounds (assigned to the Peninsula SWAT/special response unit), three breaching shotguns, 14 40mm less-lethal launchers, two 37mm OC launchers, two counter-sniper rifles used by Peninsula SWAT, seven drones, two pepper-ball launchers and one crisis-negotiation team command vehicle.

Bruno described the Monterey Peninsula Regional Special Response Unit as a consortium of law-enforcement agencies on the peninsula that shares equipment including an armored Bearcat, command-and-control vehicles and remotely piloted air and ground vehicles. He said the department received no complaints this past year about military equipment, that all equipment was accounted for and that there were no policy violations; he added that funding for existing military equipment came from the department's current budget.

On operational uses, Bruno said MPD deployed drones 24 times over the year for building searches after alarms, suspect searches, missing-person searches and to assist with parade setups. He described two uses of a pepper-ball launcher: in March 2025 during an attempted-murder pursuit that ended in Marina, officers used the launcher when they believed a suspect was hiding in a field; and in May 2025 when a fleeing suspect, cornered and crouching as if armed, was subdued using a pepper-ball launcher.

Bruno also recounted a May 2025 Peninsula SWAT operation inside Monterey that used drones, a command post and a Bearcat in response to an armed, barricaded domestic-violence suspect.

Looking ahead, Bruno said AB 481 requires a department to request additional military equipment through the City Council. "So this year we're going to ask the council ... for two police supervisor command vehicles," he said, describing vehicles similar to Ford F-150 or Chevrolet Tahoe command trucks that would replace aging vehicles and provide additional radios, writable boards and mobile workspace during critical incidents. He said the request and the department report are scheduled for the City Council on April 7.

During a brief question-and-answer period, Bruno confirmed the department has a negotiation vehicle purchased with federal grant funding that was fully reimbursed to the department and is assigned to the Monterey Peninsula Regional team. He described the vehicle as a large van fitted with seating and a table to provide negotiators a quiet, private workspace, and said it is parked in Monterey and deployed with regional responses.

The meeting closed after Bruno invited final questions and thanked attendees for coming.