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The San Ramon City Council is set Tuesday to introduce an ordinance and discuss the implications of newly effective state legislation that means increased requirements around, and justifications for, military or specialized equipment owned and used by local law enforcement agencies.
“In summary, A.B. 481 requires the San Ramon Police Department (SRPD) to obtain City Council approval at a regular and open meeting under the Brown Act, prior to taking certain actions related to funding, acquisition, or use of “military equipment,” as defined in Government Code §7070(c),” city staff wrote in the report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting. “A.B. 481 also requires City Council approval for the continued use of military equipment acquired prior to January 1, 2022, and such approval must be initiated with the City Council no later than May 1, 2022.”
The approval process for the continued and future possession of military equipment by SRPD and other local law enforcement agencies throughout the state now involves passing an ordinance that adopts a military equipment use policy, which is required to be made public.
The policy document is required to include a list describing each type of military equipment possessed or sought by SRPD, its purposes and authorized uses, fiscal impacts, compliance measures, and processes for members of the public to submit complaints and concerns.
According to the list of existing military equipment possessed by SRPD on the proposed policy, SRPD currently owns eight drones, one “AVATAR” robot, one retrofitted shotgun with breaching barrel to fire copper rounds plus 32 compressed copper breaching rounds, 78 specialized firearms, 1,210 specialized ammunition rounds, 225 flashbang grenades, tear gas, and pepper balls, and 98 less-lethal launchers and kinetic energy munitions.
As a member agency in the Central County SWAT team, the document notes that equipment from other agencies could also potentially be deployed in San Ramon. This includes “breaching apparatus that are explosive in nature;” flashbang grenades, explosive breaching tools, and tear gas; and a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD).
Council members are set to introduce the ordinance and hold a public hearing on the item at their upcoming meeting, before voting on it at their May 10 meeting if they don’t request any changes to it.
In compliance with the new legislation, the proposed ordinance and a list of equipment included under it was posted on the SRPD website last month, and is required to be updated and made public as long as military equipment is in use by the department.
Under AB 481, the council can only approve the policy upon determining that it meets certain requirements.
These include determining that it is necessary,with “no reasonable alternative” that could meet the same officer and public safety needs; that “the proposed military equipment use policy will safeguard the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties;” cost-effectiveness of the equipment compared to other options, and that prior use of military equipment by SRPD was in line with existing policy at the time, or that corrective action was taken otherwise.
If the council doesn’t adopt the ordinance within 180 days of its submission, SRPD would be required to cease the use of military equipment pending council approval.
The San Ramon City Council’s next regular meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday (April 26). The agenda is available here.
In other business
* The council is poised to continue a public hearing and consider approving a resolution that would pave the way for a long-discussed — and argued over — senior housing facility that would rest on the property where the city’s oldest house currently sits.
Following the introduction of, and public hearing on, an ordinance that would approve the applicant’s request to rezone the property at San Ramon Valley Boulevard and Westside Drive where the 19th century house originally built and occupied by the Harlan family sits, council members will resume discussions and consider approving the ordinance tomorrow.
In order for the proposed 84-bed El Nido Senior Housing Facility to move forward, the property, currently zoned for “park” use under the city’s Westside Specific Plan, would need to be rezoned for housing, in an amendment that is included as part of the ordinance before the Council tomorrow.
Although the current proposal has been received more favorably than past iterations that would have relocated the historic house to an entirely different property, some neighboring residents have continued to raise concerns about the impacts of additional parking needs and traffic, as well as noise during construction and operation of the facility, as well as the shift in zoning from “park” to “housing.”
* In a closed session starting at 5:30 p.m., council members will confer with legal counsel on a lawsuit brought by Ali Badr against the city, SRPD and two SRPD officers with allegations of misconduct in a police dog mauling incident in 2020.
