Military equipment ordinance vote set for this week for police

The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department held a community meeting recently to present its military equipment inventory and policies in line with a new state law that regulates the purchase and acquisition of military equipment.

Assembly Bill 481, which was signed into law last September, aims to address concerns around the militarization of law enforcement, Police Chief Jamie Field said.

“The goal of the bill is to increase transparency, accountability and oversight of equipment use by the local police authorities,” Field said. “The legislators supported that citizens have a right to know and a right to decide whether and how military equipment will be used in their communities.”

The Los Gatos Town Council will vote on an Assembly Bill 481 ordinance at its meeting on Tuesday that would allow the Police Department to continue to use its military equipment and follow its existing policies.

Any future purchases or acquisition would have to be approved by council, and the department would submit an annual report of the usage of all its military equipment.

If council does not pass the ordinance, the department would stop all use of the equipment and would be required to redesign its policies and procedures.

The department's current inventory of military equipment includes a robot, unmanned aircraft and drone, rifles and ammunition, noise flash diversionary devices, tear gas and 40 mm less lethal launcher.

The draft Military Equipment Policy is available for review on the town's website.

Police Capt. Derek Moye said the department looked at local critical public safety incidents over the past few years, like the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting in 2019 that killed three people, to demonstrate the importance of advanced equipment.

“In law enforcement, we strive to learn from all critical incidents ,and we're constantly trying to improve,” Moye said. “We need to have solutions for these events should they arise in our town. We need real and practical and reasonable options to influence and resolve any event when necessary.”

If approved by the town council this week, the ordinance would require an annual report of all the military equipment the department uses each year, including civilian complaints, policies, procedures, required training and other information.

Assembly Bill 481 is one of seven major police officer reform bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last September.