ESCONDIDO — The City Council voted to renew a municipal ordinance allowing the police department to continue utilizing military-grade equipment during its April 19 meeting.
Last week, Escondido Police Chief Ed Varso and Capt. Kevin Toth presented the department’s annual military equipment report as required under Assembly Bill 481, a state law requiring law enforcement agencies to seek city approval to buy and use military-grade equipment.
The council unanimously approved the annual report and renewed the ordinance, as required under California statute.
Councilmember Consuelo Martinez, who supports the legislation, said the law boiled down to increasing transparency between the public and law enforcement agencies.
“I’m glad AB 481 exists,” Martinez said. “I advocated for this law – it may be burdensome to do, but it’s an important thing.”
Under the law, the department must present an annual report to the council demonstrating its equipment, how often it has been used and any associated complaints.
This is the second year the department has presented its annual military equipment report.
During the meeting, Varso said much of the gear that falls under the state’s definition of “military equipment” isn’t even employed by the military.
“A lot of (the equipment) is commercially available or designed specifically for law enforcement use but were lumped into this law as ‘military equipment,’” Varso said.
Toth said this type of equipment allows law enforcement to effectively respond to various situations daily, especially volatile and dangerous scenarios.
“We don’t just have it to have it,” Toth said, noting the department is cautious about its equipment inventory.
The department’s military-grade equipment includes drones, a robotic platform with intercom, incident command vehicles, armored personnel carriers, breaching equipment, patrol and SWAT rifles, flashbangs, long-range acoustic devices, 40-millimeter launchers with less-lethal impact rounds, and chemical agents such as tear gas.
Of that equipment, the department most frequently employed its drones, conducting approximately 190 mission flights. The police also lent it to the fire department for use as well.
Last year, Escondido police utilized armored personnel carriers between two and five times per month for high-risk situations and the incident command vehicle twice for significant city events, such as the Fourth of July.
The police deployed flashbangs twice on barricaded suspects with high-risk warrants and tear gas on a suspect hiding in an attic. The 40-millimeter launchers, which fire sponge-tipped impact rounds, were fired three times and pointed at suspects on 27 occasions.
The department did not use its breach equipment, patrol and SWAT rifles, long-range acoustic device or the robotic platform, which is currently inoperable.
The department does not have weaponized drones or other aircraft, humvees, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, tracked armored vehicles, firearms or ammunition of .50 caliber or greater or firearms designed to launch explosive projectiles.
The police chief said the department is not asking for additional equipment or looking to expand in other ways.
While the report is a state-mandated procedural step to ensure transparency between police and the public, several residents spoke against the police’s use of this equipment.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to introduce military equipment if we’re trying to make people feel safe,” said Clay Scheller. “There are AR-15 rifles in there… we’ve seen the carnage of what they could do, and we’re trying to continue that?”
Other speakers defended the police department’s need for this equipment in day-to-day law enforcement operations.
“We need the police force now more than ever,” said Robert Netherton. “It is alarming to hear some citizens believe law enforcement officers are evil and request them to be defunded… It’s surprising when citizens with no experience in law enforcement think they have a better solution to stopping crime.”
