The Long Beach Police Department is a step closer to gaining approval for its $3.1 million worth of military equipment currently in its arsenal. City Council unanimously passed a measure Tuesday night to direct the city attorney to prepare the official order of military equipment use for 2023. 

The full list of military equipment includes tear gas, armored Bearcat vehicles, battering rams, night vision goggles, explosive breaching devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, underwater drones and more. 

The ordinance will return to councilmembers, who will have until the end of October to approve it. If there is no vote, LBPD will not be able to use its military equipment. 

Assembly Bill 481, which was passed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30, 2021, requires local law enforcement agencies to catalog their military equipment, create policies for their uses and obtain approval from the applicable governing body for funding, acquisition and use. 

Around 20 residents expressed their disapproval for the use of military equipment by the LBPD. 

“AB 481 has given you the power to make the city free of military police,” said Jamilet Ochoa, community organizer with the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition. “Year after year I’ve been up here with groups who are asking you to defund the police so you can fund programs that actually keep our communities safe and now here we are to demand that you take away LBPD’s weapons of war.”

Caitlin Bellis, a Long Beach resident, attorney and member of the Anti Surveillance Coalition, questioned the LBPD’s need for facial recognition software. The department used facial recognition technology over 2,800 times between January and September of 2020, following protests against police brutality linked to the death of George Floyd, according to a report by FORTHE.

The list also includes a Freedom On-The-Move Tactical Surveillance System that the LBPD deployed during the 2020 protests against police brutality. 

“Such monitoring is an attempt to quash, not safeguard people exercising their liberties. I do not feel safer knowing that LBPD has military equipment,” Bellis said. “AB 481 is handing you the perfect opportunity to reverse course and get these extreme weapons of war out of our communities; I urge you to take it.”

The order, drafted on July 13, 2022, says that military equipment is necessary “because there is no reasonable alternative that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety.”

Long Beach Chief of Police, Wally Hebeish said that the military-grade equipment is “not typically” used day-to-day, but “mostly for squad operations.” He gave a list of possible reasons to use the military equipment, including: civil unrest, active shooter responses, barricaded subjects, hostage rescue, high-risk search warrants, international or domestic terrorism and disaster response.

The equipment in the proposed policy was purchased prior to January 1, 2022 and was funded mainly through Homeland Security, according to City Manager Tom Modica. The policy allows the LBPD to replenish their supplies by 15% without council approval. 

“The role of AB 481 was to add transparency, hold public officials accountable and provide a chance for public comment,” Vice Mayor Rex Richardson said. “We need to use it as a baseline to have a conversation about the very real concerns raised by everyone here around the ability to protect and defend our city in the worst case scenario, but also the ability to protect civil liberties and civil rights of the people we are protecting within our city.”

The policy lists tear gas and projectile, non-lethal launchers as possible uses for crowd control “and civil unrest incidents.”

Councilmember Al Austin said that he “struggled” with the item and recalled a couple of instances where police were “overpowered” by civilians. 

“We need to err on the side of reason here when it comes to granting equipment for our police force,” Austin said. “[…] Reason would be, in my opinion, to pass this policy, but also to evaluate it as new equipment is being introduced to our department.”

Councilmember Mary Zendejas cited the need for more transparency, and said she hopes to have “checkpoints” with the policy “to really evaluate when we’re using these weapons.” 

Hebeish said the department will comply with the state-mandated annual review of policies. 

AB 481 requires the police department to return to council each year with an annual review, after which the council can amend or disapprove the renewal of the ordinance. The report’s findings will be published and discussed within 30 days at a community meeting, the first of which will occur in 2023. 

The public can submit questions or concerns regarding the proposed military equipment policy at AB481@longbeach.gov. 

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