Bill targets military surplus
Lawmaker’s proposal would require police to get local approval for such equipment.
SACRAMENTO — A new bill from a San Diego lawmaker aims to prevent California police departments from obtaining military-grade equipment without the explicit approval of local government.
“This bill helps further the impression that a police department is there to serve,” Democratic Assemblyman Todd Gloria said. “That’s a very different objective than national defense.”
In 2014, President Obama curtailed a Department of Defense program that allowed the military to distribute surplus armored vehicles, grenade launchers and large-caliber weapons to local police after complaints about police militarization during protests that year in Ferguson, Mo.
But President Trump last summer announced the revival of the program, saying that police needed the equipment to do their jobs.
Under Assembly Bill 3131, any police department that wants such equipment would have to receive explicit approval from a city council or other local governing body.
The bill also would require the state attorney general’s office to compile a list of police departments with such equipment across California.
Aside from Trump’s recent action, Gloria said a situation in his district four years ago inspired his bill.
Police in the San Diego Unified School District acquired a tank-like, mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle from the Defense Department without notifying district leaders. The district’s police chief initially said the vehicle would be used in rescues, including transporting teddy bears to disaster situations. After community pressure, the district returned the vehicle to the military.
“There’s just a difference between a squad car and a tank,” Gloria said.