SFPD sued over refusal to disclose weapons purchases

San Francisco police have refused to release records of their purchases of “militarized equipment” such as semiautomatic rifles and armored vehicles despite a state law making those records public, the American Friends Service Committee says in a lawsuit.

AB481 by then-Assembly Member David Chiu, D-San Francisco, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, requires cities and counties to approve law enforcement acquisition and use of weapons defined as military equipment, including highpowered rifles, armored vehicles, explosives and other types of munitions. The law also applies to continued use of weapons acquired in the past.

The California Public Records Act requires disclosure of those records, and more than 100 local governments have done so, including the Oakland police and Santa Clara and Sonoma County sheriff’s offices, said the AFSC, a Quaker-affiliated advocacy group. But it said the San Francisco Police Department has refused to release any records or respond to nearly 20 emails since December 2021.

“At a time when the people’s relationship with law enforcement is especially strained, transparency and truthfulness is of the utmost importance,” said the lawsuit, filed in Superior Court on Jan. 24. It said San Francisco “is defying transparency and accountability by insisting that its police department should be permitted to operate under the cover of secrecy.”

Chiu is now the San Francisco city attorney. His spokesperson, Jen Kwart, was asked about the lawsuit Tuesday and said, “We are reviewing the complaint and will respond in court.”

The suit follows an uproar over a proposal by San Francisco police to let officers use robots to kill dangerous criminal suspects. City supervisors approved the proposal in late November but suspended it a week later after public protest.

In addition to highpowered and semiautomatic rifles and armored vehicles, the suit seeks disclosure of police acquisition and policies for use of “flash bang” grenades and other explosive weapons, acoustic weapons, tear gas and other chemical agents and the “riot guns” that are used to fire them.

The AFSC said the Police Department had issued an inventory disclosing the possession of 608 semiautomatics described as assault rifles, but later reduced that number by 375.

“We see every day the dangers that militarized police forces pose to communities — especially Black and brown communities,” said John Lindsay-Poland, a California official of the Quaker organization. “We hope that this lawsuit, and our efforts to increase transparency and accountability for law enforcement agencies in San Francisco and across the state, will help mitigate the harm and violence enacted by police.”