Bill Text: CA AB1486 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1486

Bill Title: Law enforcement and state agencies: military equipment: funding, acquisition, and use.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2023-09-11 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Wiener. [AB1486 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1486-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate September 06, 2023

Amended IN Senate June 08, 2023

Amended IN Assembly April 10, 2023

Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1486

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Lee)

February 17, 2023

An act to amend Sections 7070 and 7071 of the Government Code, relating to law enforcement agencies.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1486, as amended, Jones-Sawyer. Law enforcement and state agencies: military equipment: funding, acquisition, and use.

Existing federal law authorizes the United States Department of Defense to transfer surplus personal property, including arms and ammunition, to federal or state agencies for use in law enforcement activities, subject to specified conditions, at no cost to the acquiring agency.

Existing law requires a law enforcement agency to adopt a military equipment use policy, as specified, before obtaining military equipment, as defined. Existing law also requires a law enforcement agency to obtain approval from their governing body before obtaining military equipment, as specified.

Existing law defines military equipment to include specialty firearms and ammunition, including assault weapons, as that term is defined in law, but excludes standard issue service weapons and ammunition.

This bill would clarify the meaning of standard issue service weapons and ammunition for purposes of this provision and exclude assault weapons from this exception. This bill would replace certain devices referred to in existing law by a specific trade name with a general description of those devices.

Existing law requires a law enforcement agency that has obtained military equipment pursuant to these provisions to prepare and submit an annual report to their governing body regarding the use of that equipment, as specified, and to hold a community engagement meeting, as specified, regarding that report. Existing law also requires a governing body that has enacted an ordinance authorizing the financing, acquisition, or use of military equipment pursuant to these provisions to annually review the ordinance and to hold a vote at a public meeting whether to renew the authorization.

This bill would require the renewal vote of the governing body to be held no less than 30 days after the community engagement meeting, and for the governing board to consider input from the community engagement meeting, as specified.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 7070 of the Government Code is amended to read:

7070.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Governing body” means the elected body that oversees a law enforcement agency or, if there is no elected body that directly oversees the law enforcement agency, the appointed body that oversees a law enforcement agency. In the case of a law enforcement agency of a county, including a sheriff’s department or a district attorney’s office, “governing body” means the board of supervisors of the county.

(b) “Law enforcement agency” means any of the following:

(1) A police department, including the police department of a transit agency, school district, or any campus of the University of California, the California State University, or California Community Colleges.

(2) A sheriff’s department.

(3) A district attorney’s office.

(4) A county probation department.

(1) Unmanned, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicles.

(2) Mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles or armored personnel carriers. However, police versions of standard consumer vehicles are specifically excluded from this subdivision.

(3) High mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV), commonly referred to as Humvees, two and one-half-ton trucks, five-ton trucks, or wheeled vehicles that have a breaching or entry apparatus attached. However, unarmored all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorized dirt bikes are specifically excluded from this subdivision.

(4) Tracked armored vehicles that provide ballistic protection to their occupants and utilize a tracked system instead of wheels for forward motion.

(5) Command and control vehicles that are either built or modified to facilitate the operational control and direction of public safety units.

(6) Weaponized aircraft, vessels, or vehicles of any kind.

(7) Battering rams, slugs, and breaching apparatuses that are explosive in nature. However, items designed to remove a lock, such as bolt cutters, or a handheld ram designed to be operated by one person, are specifically excluded from this subdivision.

(8) Firearms of .50 caliber or greater. However, standard issue shotguns are specifically excluded from this subdivision.

(9) Ammunition of .50 caliber or greater. However, standard issue shotgun ammunition is specifically excluded from this subdivision.

(10) Specialized firearms and ammunition of less than .50 caliber, including assault weapons as defined in Sections 30510 and 30515 of the Penal Code, with the exception of standard issue service weapons and ammunition of less than .50 caliber that are issued to officers, agents, or employees of a law enforcement agency or a state agency. As used in this paragraph, a “standard issue service weapon” means a firearm, other than an assault weapon defined in Sections 30510 and 30515 of the Penal Code, that is of the type normally issued to, carried, or transported by a peace officer in the course of routine patrol activities.

(11) Any firearm or firearm accessory that is designed to launch explosive projectiles.

(12) “Flashbang” grenades and explosive breaching tools, “tear gas,” and “pepper balls,” excluding standard, service-issued handheld pepper spray.

(13) Area denial electroshock devices, microwave weapons, water cannons, ~~and~~ long-range acoustic ~~devices.~~ devices, acoustic hailing devices, and sound cannons.

(14) The following projectile launch platforms and their associated munitions: 40mm projectile launchers, “bean bag,” rubber bullet, and specialty impact munition (SIM) weapons.

(15) Any other equipment as determined by a governing body or a state agency to require additional oversight.

(16) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (15), “military equipment” does not include general equipment not designated as prohibited or controlled by the federal Defense Logistics Agency.

(d) “Military equipment use policy” means a publicly released, written document governing the use of military equipment by a law enforcement agency or a state agency that addresses, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) A description of each type of military equipment, the quantity sought, its capabilities, expected lifespan, and product descriptions from the manufacturer of the military equipment.

(2) The purposes and authorized uses for which the law enforcement agency or the state agency proposes to use each type of military equipment. For the purpose of this subdivision, “authorized uses” means situations in which each type of equipment is authorized for display, discharge, or deployment under the policy.

(3) The fiscal impact of each type of military equipment, including the initial costs of obtaining the equipment and estimated annual costs of maintaining the equipment.

(4) The legal and procedural rules that govern each authorized use.

(5) The training, including any course required by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, that must be completed before any officer, agent, or employee of the law enforcement agency or the state agency is allowed to use each specific type of military equipment to ensure the full protection of the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties and full adherence to the military equipment use policy.

(6) The mechanisms to ensure compliance with the military equipment use policy, including which independent persons or entities have oversight authority, and, if applicable, what legally enforceable sanctions are put in place for violations of the policy.

(7) For a law enforcement agency, the procedures by which members of the public may register complaints or concerns or submit questions about the use of each specific type of military equipment, and how the law enforcement agency will ensure that each complaint, concern, or question receives a response in a timely manner.

(e) “State agency” means the law enforcement division of every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission or other state body or agency, except those agencies provided for in Article IV (except Section 20 thereof) or Article VI of the California Constitution.

(f) “Type” means each item that shares the same manufacturer model number.

SEC. 2.

Section 7071 of the Government Code is amended to read:

7071.

(a) (1) A law enforcement agency shall obtain approval of the governing body, by an ordinance adopting a military equipment use policy at a regular meeting of the governing body held pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2) or the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5), as applicable, prior to engaging in any of the following:

(A) Requesting military equipment made available pursuant to Section 2576a of Title 10 of the United States Code.

(B) Seeking funds for military equipment, including, but not limited to, applying for a grant, soliciting or accepting private, local, state, or federal funds, in-kind donations, or other donations or transfers.

(D) Collaborating with another law enforcement agency in the deployment or other use of military equipment within the territorial jurisdiction of the governing body.

(E) Using any new or existing military equipment for a purpose, in a manner, or by a person not previously approved by the governing body pursuant to this chapter.

(F) Soliciting or responding to a proposal for, or entering into an agreement with, any other person or entity to seek funds for, apply to receive, acquire, use, or collaborate in the use of, military equipment.

(G) Acquiring military equipment through any means not provided by this paragraph.

(2) No later than May 1, 2022, a law enforcement agency seeking to continue the use of any military equipment that was acquired prior to January 1, 2022, shall commence a governing body approval process in accordance with this section. If the governing body does not approve the continuing use of military equipment, including by adoption pursuant to this subdivision of a military equipment use policy submitted pursuant to subdivision (b), within 180 days of submission of the proposed military equipment use policy to the governing body, the law enforcement agency shall cease its use of the military equipment until it receives the approval of the governing body in accordance with this section.

(b) In seeking the approval of the governing body pursuant to subdivision (a), a law enforcement agency shall submit a proposed military equipment use policy to the governing body and make those documents available on the law enforcement agency’s internet website at least 30 days prior to any public hearing concerning the military equipment at issue.

(c) The governing body shall consider a proposed military equipment use policy as an agenda item for an open session of a regular meeting and provide for public comment in accordance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2) or the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5), as applicable.

(d) (1) The governing body shall only approve a military equipment use policy pursuant to this chapter if it determines all of the following:

(A) The military equipment is necessary because there is no reasonable alternative that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety.

(B) The proposed military equipment use policy will safeguard the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties.

(C) If purchasing the equipment, the equipment is reasonably cost effective compared to available alternatives that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety.

(D) Prior military equipment use complied with the military equipment use policy that was in effect at the time, or if prior uses did not comply with the accompanying military equipment use policy, corrective action has been taken to remedy nonconforming uses and ensure future compliance.

(2) In order to facilitate public participation, any proposed or final military equipment use policy shall be made publicly available on the internet website of the relevant law enforcement agency for as long as the military equipment is available for use.

(e) (1) The governing body shall review any ordinance that it has adopted pursuant to this section approving the funding, acquisition, or use of military equipment at least annually and, subject to paragraph (2), vote on whether to renew the ordinance at a regular meeting held pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2) or the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5), as applicable. This vote shall be held no less than 30 days after the community engagement meeting described in subdivision (b) of Section 7072.

(2) The governing body shall determine, based on the annual military equipment report submitted pursuant to Section 7072, and based on any input received at the community engagement meeting described in Section 7072, whether each type of military equipment identified in that report has complied with the standards for approval set forth in subdivision (d). If the governing body determines that a type of military equipment identified in that annual military equipment report has not complied with the standards for approval set forth in subdivision (d), the governing body shall either disapprove a renewal of the authorization for that type of military equipment or require modifications to the military equipment use policy in a manner that will resolve the lack of compliance.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, if a city contracts with another entity for law enforcement services, the city shall have the authority to adopt a military equipment use policy based on local community needs.