photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Sonoma County Sheriff's Lenco Bearcat armored vehicle on display in Santa
Rosa on April 16, 2024.

Armored vehicles, grenade launchers, flashbang grenades - they’re all considered military equipment by a state law passed in 2021, called AB 481.

The law gives cities and counties oversight and approval power for certain equipment purchases by local law enforcement.

It also requires law enforcement agencies to make public their inventory, how the equipment will be used, and when it's been deployed.

Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram presented on the departments "military equipment" in mid-April.

"I think it benefits not only the sheriff's office, but the community as a whole to know what sort of equipment we have, how it's used, and when we use it," Engram said. "You know, that's also part of the report is when we've used that equipment and under what circumstances."

Engram said the department’s arsenal of military equipment includes three remote controlled robots - think bomb disposal robot - and 13 small drones, deployed for both emergency rescue and crime scene surveillance.

It also includes one Bearcat, that's a military grade armored vehicle; one mobile command van, and accompanying communications truck.

As well as a variety of crowd control arms and munitions including grenade launchers, tear gas, and so-called less lethal rubber, foam, and sponge rounds.

Service arms like pistols and rifles under .50 caliber are not designated as military equipment by the state law.

While the department has a wide variety of equipment on hand, as has become typical for US law enforcement, Engram said arms and equipment are only used when appropriate.

"I don't think that we really fall into that situation to where we have this equipment so we have to use it, right?" Engram said. "Our use of force policy dictates what type of force we can use and, and at what time and if it's reasonable. And it's not only our policy, it it's the law, just because we have a piece of equipment. If it's not a reasonable use of that equipment, it's not only a violation of our policy, but in some circumstances it could also be a violation of the law."

No known complaints about military grade equipment use or internal audits are recorded in the sheriff's office's 2023 report.

Robin Jurs is a member of the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach’s Community Advisory Council. She attended this year’s AB 481 presentation at the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office in Santa Rosa.

"Personally, I find the equipment to be intimidating," Jurs said. "I feel as though we as citizens need to be really on top of the use of force policies that the sheriff's department has and challenge them when we feel that they are being misused in any way."

Katrina Phillips was also among the four attendees to the sheriff's office latest presentation. She is chair of Sonoma County’s Commission on Human Rights, and said she feels presentations and similar carrots of public accountability aren’t going to stop the equipment from being put to use.

"The weapons are already bought, the machines are already bought," Phillips said. "It's already on our streets. We are already unsafe."

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s full AB 481 report can be found on the sheriff’s website under publications.