The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to allow the Sheriff’s Office to continue using its military equipment and approved a proposal to spend nearly $155,000 on new items over the next fiscal year.
The estimated cost for new purchases, which include drones and smoke grenades, is less than a third of what the office sought last June. The office requested permission to acquire about $533,000 worth of equipment, with 2,000 cases of rifle rounds accounting for most of the total.
A state law passed about three years ago — Assembly Bill 481 — requires the office to get annual board approval to fund, acquire and use items classified as military equipment. The law defines military equipment as drones, flashbangs, armored vehicles and other items that government agencies decide need special oversight.
The Sheriff’s Office has 44 drones and wants to buy five more, Capt. David Becwar said. Two of the drones are a new model the office doesn’t own and could be paid for with a state grant, Becwar said. The office already has the other model in its inventory, but requested adding three designated to the Rancho Cordova Police Department, which it oversees through a contract.
“These drones require a lot of continuing service, which is why we need as many as we do,” Becwar said. “At any given time a number of them are down for maintenance and not serviceable.”
The office flew drones 543 times between January and December 2023, according to its 2024 Military Equipment Use report. A zip code in the Arden area accounted for the most usage, Becwar said, because of a pilot program called Drone as First Responder. The office had a drone on standby in the area to respond to calls for service, such as by gathering evidence or helping determine whether deputies needed to drive to a location.
Deputies used other military equipment, including armored vehicles, long-range acoustic devices and flash bangs in a total of 127 incidents in 2023. Essentially high-tech speakers, long-range acoustic devices are mounted on Folsom Dam to communicate with boaters and are also used to to broadcast warnings louder than a bullhorn or patrol car can.
According to the report, out of 137 people deputies contacted in those incidents, about 36% were Black. About 11% of Sacramento County’s population is Black, according to 2023 estimates from the U.S. Census.
Keyan Bliss, the chair of the City of Sacramento Community Police Review Commission, told supervisors they should be questioning the disparity and other concerns raised by residents in spoken and written public comments. Bliss said one issue in the office’s military equipment use policy is the authority to order up to 10% of the equipment stock a year without board approval.
“This section is illegal under AB 481, which requires all military equipment acquisitions by law enforcement agencies to be approved by the governing body without exception,” Bliss said.
Other concerns raised include whether the county met the requirements to hold a well-publicized community engagement meeting about the annual report and determine the policy will safeguard the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights and civil liberties. The Community Review Commission for the Sheriff’s Office held a discussion of the report on May 28, but during the meeting Commissioner Theresa Riviera suggested the agency contact neighborhood associations about the opportunity instead of only posting a notice on its website.
Supervisor Patrick Kennedy asked staff to ensure the policy complies with state law, but voted to renew the authorization with the rest of the board on Tuesday.
Supervisors first approved the Sheriff’s Office’s military equipment use policy in October 2022.
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