Manhattan Beach renews military-equipment policy after police annual report; drones and armored deployments summarized

The City Council on June 2 received the Manhattan Beach Police Department's 2025 annual military-equipment use report, then introduced and approved an ordinance to renew the city's military-equipment policy under state law.

Lieutenant Matt Saboski, who oversees the Professional Standards Office, told the council that the report is required by Government Code section 7072 and is intended to increase transparency. "This law is about transparency and ensures our community is informed about the specialized equipment used by their police department," he said.

The report summarized types and counts of uses in 2025: drones (two deployments for training; 24 for incidents and special events), the regional armored vehicle (two trainings and five special events), a mobile command post (seven community events, one traffic collision), a SWAT command vehicle (primarily training, one search-warrant deployment), and other tools used in training. Saboski emphasized that "military equipment" is a statutory definition and mostly covers tools officers do not carry daily.

Staff also reported a modest equipment-related cost total for 2025: $46,718.17 for upgrades, maintenance, training, and ammunition replacement; staff said those costs were covered in the existing police budget. The department further requested authority to bring forward urgent equipment requests to council by staff report when needed before the next formal annual review.

Council members and members of the public asked about how the department assesses need, regional mutual-aid arrangements and whether the city could rely on neighboring agencies for specialized responses. Police leaders said the department follows industry standards, trains regularly, participates in South Bay mutual-aid agreements (including sharing an armored vehicle regionally) and factors capability, storage, training capacities, and cost when deciding whether to own equipment.

After discussion and public comment, the council introduced and approved ordinance 26-00003 to renew the city's military-equipment policy as required by AB 481. The motion passed by council vote.

What happens next: The city will keep the inventory log and make the 2025 report available on the city website as required by law; requests for new equipment will still require budget and purchasing procedures and council oversight.