City Council - Regular Meeting

Well, touch and testing. We're going to go ahead and get started. I am going to use the microphone because everything's being recorded, so we can share it onto our YouTube later on for everyone who was not able to make it tonight. We get started, and this is the AB41 presentation. It's going to be kind of lengthy, and so I'm going to go through it. It's detailed just in case people aren't aware what AB 41 is so I'm gonna kind of go into the the ins and outs of it our inventory and then everything what the law is and what's about and then we'll take questions comments feedback afterwards we are going to note them down all that information so we have it so when we go to council on the 16th they're fully aware of kind of what happened here what transpired okay Good evening. Thank you for being here tonight and taking the time to participate in this community engagement meeting. My name is Captain John Lopez and I oversee the Patrol Operations Bureau for the Richmond Police Department. Tonight I will provide an overview of the Richmond Police Department's 2025 Annual Military Equipment Use Report. This report covers the period from January 1, 2025 to December 31st of 2025. The purpose of tonight's meeting is simple. to explain what AB41 is, what it requires, what equipment is covered, how the equipment was used during the reporting period, what oversight is in place, and to answer any questions from the community. I want to acknowledge up front that the phrase military equipment can raise understandable questions or concerns. This is a term that is used by state law. It does not mean that the equipment came from the military and it does not mean that the equipment is used for a military purpose. Much of the equipment in this report includes drones, command resources, less lethal tools, patrol rifles, breaching tools and equipment used during high risk or life threatening incidents. I will walk through the presentation and leave time for questions at the end. And my goal tonight is to be clear, respectful, and very transparent. This is kind of our roadmap that shows how tonight's presentations can be organized. The presentation closely follows the published annual report so that anyone reviewing the report later can connect the slides back to the report pages. We will begin with the legal framework for AB 481 and what the law requires. Then we'll review prior council direction, the statutory definitions, and the department's military equipment use policy. After that, we will move through the equipment inventory, the purpose and authorized uses of each major category, the 2025 operational use data, demographic and location information requested by Council, patrol rifle deployment tracking, drone as a first responder, 2026 acquisitions, policy updates, complaints, fiscal impacts, projected training costs, and the incident list summary. This is a detailed presentation by design. The goal is not to rush through the report. The goal is to give the community a complete picture and answer as many questions as possible. Framework. This is the section that explains the framework of AB41. Before we discuss any equipment, it is important to understand why this report exists. AB 41 is a California law that was created for public reporting, governing body approval, public posting, and community engagement requirements for equipment defined by state law as military equipment. This is not an optional report. It is an annual requirement under state law for agencies that have approved equipment available for use. Every city in the state of California has to have an AB 41 report. What is AB 41? AB 41 is codified California Government Code Sections 770 through 775. The law is focused on transparency, public awareness, and local oversight. It requires law enforcement agencies to obtain approval from the governing body before funding, acquiring, using, or continuing to use equipment that falls within statutory definition of military equipment. For Richmond, the governing body is the Richmond City Council. Again, the phrase military equipment is a legal term. It does not mean that the equipment came from the military or that it was used for military purposes. The statutory definition includes a wide range of public safety equipment such as drones, robots, command vehicles, breaching equipment, patrol rifles, diversionary devices, chemical agents, 40 millimeter launchers, less lethal shotguns, and related munitions. The law also requires a written policy that explains how the equipment may be used, who can use it, what training is required, what legal rules apply, how the equipment is tracked, and how the public can submit questions or complaints. Richmond's Military Equipment Use Policy is Policy Manual Section 707, and it was approved and adopted by the City Council in 2022. What AB 41 requires. This slide summarizes the major annual obligations under AB 41. First, city council must review and approve the department's continued use of covered equipment. Second, the department must maintain a publicly available written policy. That policy must identify the equipment, the authorized uses, the fiscal impact, legal and procedural rules, training requirements, oversight mechanisms, and complaint procedures. Third, the department must prepare an annual report, which we have. The report must include how each type of equipment was used, the purpose of the use, complaints or concerns, internal audit information, policy violations, annual costs, funding sources, quantities possessed, and quantities sought for the next year. Fourth, the policy and report must be publicly posted. Fifth, the police department must hold a well-publicized and conveniently located community engagement meeting within 30 days after the report is publicly released. Finally, the city council conducts the annual review and determines whether authorization should be continued, be amended, or be revoked. Annual report content. This slide shows the core reporting areas covered in the 2025 annual report. The report includes the equipment inventory by type and model, how equipment was used, why it was used, complaints and concerns, audit and compliance information, costs, training, oversight, policy updates, public engagement, and the council directed location and demographic information. The reporting period is January 1, 2025 through December 31st of 2025. One point I want to emphasize is that this report is not just an inventory list. It is intended to explain the purpose, the controls, the training, the accountability surrounding all of the equipment the police department has. Public release and review timeline. This slide provides a public release and review timeline. The 2025 Annual Military Equipment Use Report was publicly released on May 14th of 2026 on the Richmond Police Department's AB41 transparency webpage. On May 15th, notifications were distributed to the Community Police Review Commission THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AND ALL OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. THIS ADVANCED NOTICE WAS TO PROVIDE LOCAL LEADERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REACH OUT TO THE COMMUNITY FOR PUBLIC FEEDBACK AT OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING WE'RE HAVING TODAY. JUNE 3, THIS PAST WEDNESDAY, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESENTED AN OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW COMMISSION AND ANSWERED QUESTIONS. TONIGHT, JUNE 5, WE ARE HOLDING THE AB41 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING. I AM PRESENTING A POWERPOINT OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT AND WE WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY AFTERWARDS. The report is scheduled to be presented to the city council on June 16th for the annual review. The report and monthly statistics links are shown on this slide so the public can review the material directly. PRIOR COUNCIL DIRECTION AND DEPARTMENT RESPONSE. THIS SLIDE IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THIS YEAR'S REPORT WAS SHAPED BY PRIOR CITY COUNCIL DIRECTION. DURING THE APRIL 22, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING, THE 2024 AB 481 ANNUAL REPORT WAS PRESENTED BY FORMER POLICE CHIEF BISO FRENCH AND MYSELF. AT THAT MEETING, THE CITY COUNCIL PROVIDED ADDITIONAL DIRECTION REGARDING FUTURE REPORTING, POLICY DEVELOPMENT, AND TRANSPARENCY. First, counsel directed the police department to develop a process to track each time an officer deploys or displays a patrol rifle during an incident. In response, the police department created an electronic reporting form and implemented a process for officers, supervisors, and watch commanders to document those deployments. That data is included in this report. Second, council directed the department to amend policy section 707.6 and include a dedicated section addressing the use of armored rescue vehicles borrowed from other agencies. That amendment addresses the purpose, authorized uses, operational controls, and reporting requirements. Third, council directed that notice of the 2026 community engagement meeting be provided to the CPRC, the mayor's office, and the city council at least two weeks in advance. That notice was provided. Fourth, city council directed that the annual report include location and demographic information, including race and ethnicity data, to the extent that information was known and available. That information is included in this year's report as well. This annual report was prepared to respond to those directives and to continue compliance with AB 481. Definitions. This section moves into the definitions under Government Code Section 7070. The law identifies specific categories of equipment that are considered military equipment for purposes of reporting and approval. Categories 1 through 5 that you see on your screen, this slide covers the first part of the statutory definition chart. For AB 481 purposes, the governing body for the Richmond Police Department is our city council. Category 1 covers unmanned, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicles. For Richmond, this applies to our unmanned aircraft systems, commonly called drones, and our SWAT robot. Categories 2 through 4 include MRAP vehicles, armored personnel carriers, Humvees, wheeled vehicles with breaching apparatuses, and tracked armored vehicles. Those are not applicable to Richmond's current inventory. We don't have any of those. Category 5 covers command and control vehicles. That applies to the department's mobile command vehicle that we do have. DEFINITIONS, CATEGORIES 6 THROUGH 11. THIS SLIDE CONTINUES TO SATURATORY CATEGORIES. CATEGORY 6 COVERS WEAPONIZED AIRCRAFT VEHICLES OR VESSELS OR VEHICLES. THAT IS NOT APPLICABLE TO THE RICHMOND CURRENT INVENTORY. WE DO NOT HAVE ANY OF THOSE IN OUR INVENTORY. CATEGORY 7 COVERS BATTERING RAMS, SLUGS, AND BREACHING APPARATUSES THAT ARE EXPLOSIVE IN NATURE. THIS APPLIES ONLY IF THE DEPARTMENT POSSESSES OR USES BREACHING ROUNDS OR EXPLOSIVE BREACHING TOOLS COVERED BY THE STATUTE. Categories 8 and 9 cover firearms and ammunition of .50 caliber or greater. Those are not applicable to Richmond's current inventory. Category 10 covers specialized firearms and ammunition of less than .50 caliber, including certain assault weapons, except standard issue service weapons and ammunition. This applies to our agency. This applies to the Department Patrol Rifles. Category 11 covers any firearm or accessory designed to launch explosive projectiles. That is not applicable to the Richmond's current inventory. Categories 12 through 15. This slide finishes the definition section. Category 12 covers flashbangs, explosive breaching tools, tear gas, and pepper balls, excluding standard issue handheld pepper spray. This category applies to the department's diversionary devices, chemical agents, and related systems. Category 13 covers equipment like taser shockwave, microwave weapons, water cannons, and long-range acoustic devices. Those are not applicable to Richmond's current inventory. We do not have any of those. Category 14 covers projectile launch platforms and associated munitions, including 40-millimeter launchers, beanbag shotguns, and specialty impact weapons or munitions. This category applies to Richmond's 40-millimeter launchers, less lethal shotguns, and specialty impact munitions. Category 15 covers any other equipment determined by the governing body or state agency to require additional oversight. That is not currently applicable to the Richmond Police Department. The key point is that the report identifies which statutory categories actually apply to Richmond's current inventory and operational needs. Some background. AB 41 was enacted by California legislature in 2021 and became effective on January 1 of 2022. The law was adopted to increase transparency, public awareness, and local oversight. For local law enforcement agencies, AB 41 requires governing body review and approval of a military equipment use policy before an agency may seek funds for, acquire, use, or continue using covered equipment. The law also requires annual reporting, public availability of policy and annual report, and annual review by the governing body. In Richmond, City Council approved the department's military equipment use policy by an ordinance of 12.22NS on October 19, 2022. On April 22, 2025, City Council adopted Resolution 4825, approving the department's annual AB41 item by unanimous vote. This 2025 report is submitted as part of the department's continuing obligation to provide transparency, accountability, and legally compliant and annual review. Our military equipment use policy. This slide summarizes the key elements of policy manual section 707, the military equipment use policy. The policy must describe each type of equipment, including quantity, capabilities, expected lifespan, and manufacturer description. It must explain the purpose and authorized uses for each equipment type, the fiscal impact, the legal and procedural rules governing each authorized use, and the training required before a member is authorized to use the equipment. It also identifies compliance mechanisms and public inquiry and complaint procedures. In practical terms, the policy is the rule book for how the department may possess, use, report, and account equipment identified as military equipment. Military equipment use policy oversight structure. This slide explains the oversight structure built into the policy. Policy section 707 designates an AB41 coordinator, requires an annual inventory review, requires annual reporting to city council, and requires public posting of the annual report on the department website. It also requires a community engagement meeting following release of the annual report. The policy further provides for referral of complaints to the Community Police Review Commission as the independent oversight body. The purpose is to make sure that the equipment is not only tracked internally, but also reported publicly and reviewed through the city's oversight process. Equipment inventory by type. This next section begins the equipment inventory portion of the report. The inventory identifies equipment maintained by the Richmond Police Department as of December 31st of 2025. We will go through the inventory by major category and then discuss the purpose and authorized uses in more detail. Equipment inventory by type, how to read this section. This slide explains how to read the inventory section. The inventory identifies equipment by type and model. It also identifies quantity possessed and quantity sought for that next year. Some categories are consumable. That includes ammunition, diversionary devices, breaching munitions, chemical agents, smoke canisters, and specialty impact munitions. Those quantities can fluctuate during the year because of training, operational deployment, replacement, exploration, damage, or manufacturer replacement schedules. The listed quantities reflect the department's ending inventory for the reporting period. Overall, the inventory includes 15 drones, one tactical robot, one mobile command center, four breaching shotguns, 325 breaching rounds, 82 rifles, rifle ammunition, 120 diversionary devices, 700 chemical agents or related units, 40 millimeter launchers and munitions, less lethal shotgun and rounds, chemical shotguns, and FN-303 launchers. Unmanned aerial systems. This slide lists the department's unmanned aerial system. The department reported 15 UAS units. The report does not seek additional UAS units for the next year in this inventory table. These systems support patrol, SWAT, crime scene documentation, disaster response, search and rescue, and drone as a first responder operation when authorized. inventory. So this is our robot and command center and breaching tools. This slide covers the tactical robot, mobile command center, breaching shotgun, and breaching munitions. The Richmond Police Department has one recon robotics tactical robot and is seeking one additional unit. The department has one EVI Spartan mobile command center and is not seeking another one. The department has four Remington 870 police magnum breaching shotguns. The department also maintains a teaser breaching munitions with quantities sought for the next year. These tools support remote assessment, incident command, and safe tactical entry during high-risk operations. Rifles and rifle ammunition. This slide lists rifles and rifle ammunition. The police department has 82 rifles in the inventory. The report identifies 10 Colt M4 carbines sought for the next year. For ammunition, the report identifies 50,000 rounds of .223 ammunition and 5,000 rounds of .308 ammunition. DIVERSIONARY DEVICES AND CHEMICAL AGENTS. THIS SLIDE LISTS DIVERSIONARY DEVICES AND CHEMICAL AGENTS. THE DEPARTMENT REPORTS 120 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY MODEL 8933 DIVERSIONARY DEVICES WITH REPLENISHMENT ANTICIPATED FOR THE NEXT YEAR. THE CHEMICAL AGENT INVENTORY INCLUDES CS GAS CANISTERS, OC VAPOR, SMOKE, 40-MILLIMETER LIQUID FERRET ROUNDS, 40-MILLIMETER DIRECT IMPACT OC ROUNDS, AND PEPPERBALL LIVE PROJECTILES. The report identifies a total of 700 chemical agents, smoke, and paper ball units. These items are not general use tools. They are specialized tools governed by policy, authorization requirements, and training. Their use is limited to specific high-risk or legally authorized circumstances. 40 millimeter less lethal chemical shotguns and FN 303. This slide covers 40 millimeter launchers, less lethal shotguns, chemical shotguns, and FN 303 launchers. The department has three pin arms, 40 millimeter multi-launchers, and seven pin arms, 40 millimeter single shot launchers. The department has 140 millimeter exact impact sponge rounds and 50, 40 millimeter exact impact marking rounds. The two federal laboratories 37 millimeter launchers are decommissioned. The department has 17 less lethal Remington 870 shotguns, 500 bean bag rounds, two chemical shotguns, and four FN 303 less lethal launchers. These platforms are designed to provide less lethal or chemical delivery options in limited circumstances and only by trained personnel. Summary of the military equipment. We now move from the inventory into the summary of each equipment category. This section is more than a list. It explains the purpose, authorized uses, fiscal impacts, legal rules, training, and controls for the equipment. This is important because AB 41 does not simply ask whether equipment exists. It asks how it is governed, why it is used, and what accountability is attached to it. UAS drones. The department owns 15 unmanned aerial systems with an approximate lifespan of three to five years. UASs are unmanned aerial capable of directed flight and supporting imaging, recording, or other public safety functions. Their purpose is to support first responders during hazardous or complex incidents where an aerial perspective can improve safety and decision making. Authorized uses include search and rescue, barricaded suspects, high risk tactical operations, disaster response, crime scene documentation, and authorized drone as a first responder operations. Only authorized operators who have completed required training may operate a UAS. Flights are subject to department policy, applicable laws, FAA regulations, civil rights considerations, and privacy protection. The department uses digital flight tracking to document flight activity, mission details, and operator accountability. The 2025 UAS expenditures listed later in the report are $46,128. UAS authorized missions. This slide lists the authorized missions for UAS operations. They include post-incident crime scene documentation, explosive ordnance support, hazardous materials incidents, search and rescue, public safety, and life preservation missions, disaster response and recovery, training, fire, authority requests, lawful operational supported by probable cause, and operations conducted under a search warrant. The policy requires the supervisor, operators, and observers to consider civil rights, civil liberties, and reasonable expectations of privacy before deployment. Flights are documented through digital flight tracking, and if digital tracking is unavailable, the mission dispatch form remains available. Tactical robot. The department owns one tactical robot with an approximate lifespan of five to seven years. The robot is a small remotely controlled device that can provide a ground level perspective during hazardous incidents. It may be useful during barricaded suspect incidents, hostage negotiations, high risk warrant services, disaster response, confined space searches, or tactically compromised structures. The purpose is to remotely gain visual and audio information and reduce unnecessary risk to officers, the public, and suspects. The initial cost is $7,500 with no annual maintenance cost. The mobile command center. This is a self-contained command post used to provide an incident commander with a mobile base of operation during significant events. It is designed for major incidents, high-risk incidents, natural disasters, human-caused disasters, special operations, and planned events requiring an on-scene command and coordination. It is not an armored vehicle. It is a command and control platform. Its purpose is to support communications, coordination, resource management, and field incident command during complex operations. The initial cost is $402,152, and the annual maintenance cost is listed at $3,000 a year. Drivers must have the appropriate California Class B license with air brake endorsement and complete required vehicle and systems training. Armored rescue vehicle. This slide is important because Richmond Police Department does not currently own or maintain an armored rescue vehicle. In limited circumstances, the Richmond Police Department may request armored vehicle support through mutual aid or operational assistance from an outside agency. Those situations may include high-risk SWAT operations, barricaded suspects, hostage situations, rescue operations, active shooter incidents, evacuations, or other incidents where ballistic protection is necessary to enhance officer and public safety. Any armored carrier used in support of Richmond Police Department operations is operated by the assisting agency's trained personnel, and that agency's military equipment use policy applies. There is no ownership or maintenance cost to Richmond for this mutual aid support. The distinction is important. The report discusses mutual aid support, but Richmond does not currently own an armored rescue vehicle. The department has four breaching shotguns and 325 breaching rounds. These are Remington 870 breaching shotguns and teaser breaching rounds. Their purpose is to defeat locks, hinges, and other door hardware to facilitate safe entry during high-risk tactical operations. They may be used during barricaded suspect incidents, hostage situations, high-risk warrant services, or when the SRT or SWAT commander determines they are necessary to safely resolve an incident. They are limited to trained SWAT personnel. Training includes a SWAT breaching course or an in-house breaching instructor training along with live fire proficiency training. The cost for breaching shotguns is listed at $550 each. Breaching rounds have an initial cost of $2,000. Annual maintenance is listed as $100 for shotguns and $500 for rounds. Rifles and ammunition. This slide summarizes rifles and ammunition. The department has 82 rifles, 50,000 rounds of .223 ammunition, 5,000 rounds of .308 ammunition. Rifles are semi-automatic shoulder-fired firearms designed to fire rifle caliber ammunition. Their purpose is to provide qualified officers with an additional tactical resource for incidents involving armored armed suspects, body armor, distance, or circumstances where a handgun may not provide sufficient accuracy or capability. Only ammunition meeting department specifications approved by the chief of police and issued by the department may be used in law enforcement operations. Authorized deployment circumstances. This slide explains when a rifle may be deployed. Authorized circumstances include an objectively reasonable anticipation of an armed encounter, a situation requiring accurate and effective fire at extended distances, a need to meet or exceed a suspect's firepower, a barricaded suspect or hostage situation, a belief that a suspect may be wearing body armor, supervisor authorization or request, or the need to euthanize an animal. Officers may not carry or use a rifle unless they have successfully completed department training. That includes an initial 40-hour patrol rifle course and qualifications with a certified instructor, followed by regular training and qualifications. The legal rule is direct. Rifles are used only for official law enforcement purposes. Diversionary devices, the police department owns 120 diversionary devices with an approximate lifespan of five years. These devices emit a loud noise and bright light to create a temporary sensory distraction. They are intended to distract, confuse, and disorient dangerous subjects in limited high risk situations. Authorized uses include barricaded suspects or hostage situations, high-risk warrant services, potentially violent animals, or when the SRT or SWAT commander determine their use is necessary to safely resolve an incident. Diversionary devices shall only be used for distraction purposes. The initial cost listed is $6,800 per 120 devices with no annual maintenance costs. Training is limited to personnel who complete approved diversionary device training and trainers must attend related training every three years to maintain and update their skills. Chemical agents. The police department reports 700 chemical agents, smoke, and related paper ball units with an approximate lifespan of five years. Chemical agents may be introduced from close proximity or from a distance, depending on the delivery method. Their purpose is limited to high-risk tactical incidents, legally authorized crowd management situations, and other law enforcement situations authorized by policy and law. The purpose can include dislodging a suspect from a stronghold, preventing an armed suspect from accurately firing, assisting in crowd dispersal when legally justified, and reducing risk of injury to community members, officers, and suspects. For crowd control, use must comply with penal code section 13652 and be deployed only by officers with post-crowd control training. The initial cost is $5,000 with annual maintenance of $3,000. 40 millimeter launchers and munitions. The department has 10 active 40 millimeter launchers, 150 active 40 millimeter munitions, and two decommissioned 37 millimeter launchers. The 40 millimeter platform is an extended range impact weapon system. and can deliver less lethal impact rounds and where authorized chemical agent munitions. Its purpose is to provide an extended range less lethal option that can create increased distance, accuracy and tactical flexibility during critical incidents. The police department's policy states that officers are not required or compelled to use 40 millimeter munitions instead of other reasonable tactics if deployment cannot be done safely. The reported fiscal impact includes $1,531 for each multi-launcher, $1,302 for each single-shot launcher, and $3,000 total for exact impact rounds. Maintenance is zero. 40 millimeter authorized deployment circumstances. This slide lists the authorized deployment circumstances for 40 millimeter munitions. They may be used when a suspect is armed with a weapon and the tactical circumstances allow safe application, when a suspect has made credible threats to harm self or others, or when a suspect is engaged in riotous behavior or throwing dangerous projectiles, or when there is probable cause to believe the suspect committed a crime of violence and is refusing lawful orders. For crowd control, 40-millimeter kinetic energy projectiles may only be used or deployed by officers who have received post-crowd control training and are only when objectively reasonable under Penal Code Section 13652. less lethal shotguns and rounds. The department has 17 less lethal shotguns and 500 beanbag rounds. These are 12 gauge shotguns configured for less lethal deployment. They are intended to deliver beanbag rounds to temporarily incapacitate or gain compliance while reducing the likelihood of death or serious bodily injury compared to conventional firearms. Authorized circumstances include a subject armed with a weapon other than a firearm when a safe deployment is possible, a person posing as an immediate threat to self or others, violent resistance or assaultive behavior, behavior that presents a danger to the public or officers or other use authorized by policy, training and supervisory direction. Only officers who have received department approved training may deploy these tools. Annual maintenance is listed at $500. Chemical shotgun and FN-303 less lethal launchers. The department has two chemical shotguns. These are configured to deploy authorized chemical munitions at a distance during barricaded suspect incidents, high-risk tactical operations, or other lawful circumstances authorized by the appropriate supervisor or incident commander. The department has four FN-303 launchers. These are compressed air power less lethal launchers used when a less lethal response is reasonable and appropriate for violent, assaultive, or dangerous subjects. Both platforms are limited to official law enforcement purposes and are governed by department policy. The report lists no initial or annual maintenance costs for these platforms. 2025 Equipment Use Summary. This section moves from equipment descriptions to actual operational use during the 2025 reporting period. The next slide shows how covered equipment was reported as used during the year. The data covers January 1 through December 31 of 2025. This slide summarizes operational use by category. The department reported 166 operational uses in the annual summary, excluding DFR, which is reported separately. The totals are armored mutual aid support, nine, breaching shotgun and projectiles, eight, chemical agents, five, diversion devices, 26, less lethal impact devices and kinetic energy projectiles, 13, mobile command center, zero, patrol rifles and ammunition, one, tactical robot, zero, and unmanned aerial systems, 104. The important note is that the Richmond does not own an armored vehicle. As we mentioned before, those nine entries reflect outside agencies' armored support requested for limited high-risk operations. 2025 Military Equipment Use Summary Table. This slide shows the monthly breakdown from the report. The purpose of this table is to provide a transparent month-by-month A COUNT OF REPORTED OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENTS BY EQUIPMENT CATEGORY. MAY HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF REPORTED USES IN THIS TABLE WITH 35. APRIL HAD 27. SEPTEMBER HAD 20. AND JANUARY HAD 18. UAS WAS THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED CATEGORY IN THE NON-DFR EQUIPMENT SUMMARY WITH 104 DEPLOYMENTS. 2025 use by month. This graph gives a visual summary of total operational equipment use by month. It is based on the page 34 table in the annual report. The graph helps show that reported equipment use was not evenly distributed across the year. Some months had higher activity based on the incidents, operations, and deployments. It is important not to overread the graph. A higher month does not automatically mean a policy issue. It means the department reported more operational deployments of covered equipment during that month. 2025 military equipment use by type. This graph shows reported use by equipment type. UAS deployments make up the largest portion of reported non-DFR equipment use. Diversionary devices, less lethal and kinetic tools, armored mutual aid support, breaching tools, and chemical agents are reported separately. Demographic data, sex and age. This slide begins the council directed demographic data section. I want to speak carefully about this data. The police department included this information because city council requested more location and demographic detail for public review. This data reflects known suspect or involved person information associated with reportable equipment deployments. It does not represent all calls for service, all police contacts, or all community members affected by police activity. Unknown means the demographic information was not known. N.A. means no suspect was involved, such as a missing person report, impound, or traffic control situation. The age and sex tables should be read with those limits in mind. Some incidents involve no identifiable suspect, and some incidents involve incomplete demographic information. The purpose of including this data is transparency, not to draw conclusions beyond what the data can accurately or actually support. known suspect demographic data. This slide shows the race data as reported in the known suspect demographic section. Again, this should be reviewed carefully and in context. The data reflects known suspect or involved person information associated with reportable equipment and deployments, including rifle deployments. It does not represent all Richmond residents or all calls for service or police contacts. A significant portion of the entries are listed as unknown or NA. That matters because some deployments do not involve an identifiable suspect, and in some cases, demographic information is not available. The police department included this information because city council requested more location and demographic detail. Patrol rifle deployments and table. This slide addresses patrol rifle deployment tracking, which was specifically requested by the city council. For purposes of this report, a deployment means an officer removed or made a patrol rifle available for potential use based on the circumstances of the incident. A deployment does not necessarily mean that the rifle was pointed at anyone. It does not necessarily mean that the rifle was displayed to or observed by a member of the public. It does not mean that the rifle was fired. It does not mean that the force or any force was used. This reporting process was implemented in February of 2025. January is reflected as zero in the table because formal tracking was not yet in place at that time. The report identifies 333 reported patrol rifle deployments during the 2025 reporting period. The report also notes that tallying these deployments presented practical challenges in active and evolving incidents. So that figure, the figure should be understood as approximate counts based on the information reported at that time. Drone as a First Responder Program Overview. This slide begins the Drone as a First Responder section. Drone as a First Responder, or DFR, is a public safety program that deploys unmanned aerial systems in advance of or in coordination with responding officers during calls for service. The purpose is to provide real-time aerial imagery and situational awareness to officers, supervisors, and dispatch personnel before officers arrive on scene. DFR is intended to enhance officer and community safety, improve response efficiency, and support effective resources or resource deployment. In practical terms, it can help determine what is actually happening before officers arrive on scene. It may confirm that a suspect is present, that a victim needs assistance, that a scene is clear, or that a call requires a different level of response. This slide explains the kinds of incidents where DFR may be useful. DFR may be used for crimes in progress or just occurred. Suspicious persons or vehicles, reports of people with weapons, perimeter searches for suspects or missing persons, large gatherings or public disturbances, injury traffic collisions, roadway hazards, and other volatile or rapidly evolving circumstances. The DFR program was expanded as part of a flock group contract amendment approved by city council on January 21st of 2025. Although the contract amendment was approved in January, operational deployment did not begin immediately. Equipment acquisition, system setup, implementation, and training had to occur first. That is why no DFR deployments are reflected from January through April of 2025. DFR deployment totals are separate from the broader UAS inventory and other drone-related missions. And this is the DFR deployment table. This slide shows DFR deployments during the 2025 reporting period. There were 766 DFR deployments reported in 2025. The table shows that deployments began in May with 25, June had 213, July had 240, August had 153, September had 49, October had 47, November had 9, and December had 30. These 766 DFR deployments are separate from the 104 non-DFR UAS deployments reported in the General Military Equipment Use Summary. The reason for reporting them separately is that DFR is a distinct operational program and is also tied to a public-facing transparency platform. Acquisitions and Policy Updates. This section covers anticipated 2026 acquisitions and policy updates. The annual report is required to identify quantities possessed and quantities sought for the next year. It also explains plan replenishment or evaluations of future needs. This section includes consumable equipment replenishment, continued evaluation of an armored rescue vehicle capability, and policy updates related to armored rescue vehicles from other jurisdictions and UAS operations. Acquisitions for 2026. This slide explains general acquisitions for 2026. Some purchases can be anticipated, but unplanned replacements may be necessary when equipment is damaged beyond repair, reaches the end of the service life, or is no longer operational. operationally reliable. Any replacement will be evaluated case by case and will depend on operational need, availability, funding, department policy, and AB 41 compliance. Consumable military equipment can fluctuate throughout the year. That includes ammunition, chemical agents, impact munitions, less lethal rounds, breaching munitions, and diversionary devices. Future acquisitions are expected to replenish previously approved quantities and remain subject to department policy and AB 41 requirements. armored rescue vehicle evaluation. This slide addresses the department's intent to continue evaluating dedicated armored rescue capabilities. For 2026, the department anticipates continuing to evaluate the need for access to an armored rescue vehicle for critical incidents and high-risk tactical operations. In August of 2025, the police department received a quote for $483.667 for a rescue medic vehicle. It can provide ballistic protection for officers, fire personnel, paramedics, crisis negotiators, victims, and community members during high-risk incidents. It can support safer rescue, evacuation, protected movement, medical care, access, and de-escalation. Richmond also has critical infrastructures, schools, and Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the Chevron Refinery, BART, Amtrak, Kaiser, the Waterfront, the Ferry Terminal, and other public locations. The department also serves as the primary tactical team for Hercules and El Cerrito and may assist regionally through mutual aid. At present, Richmond may request armored support from another agency, but mutual aid access is not guaranteed. There may be delays due to equipment availability, operators, or competing regional needs. The intent stated in the report is to continue evaluating and requesting dedicated armored rescue capabilities through the appropriate city review. Funding AB 41 process. Policy updates. Armored rescue vehicle. This slide explains the current policy and proposed armored rescue vehicle amendment. Current policy 707.6 states that military equipment used by Richmond personnel must be approved and used in accordance with department policy. It also states that military equipment used by another jurisdiction providing mutual aid must comply with that agency's military equipment use policy. proposed 707.6.1 amendment was added at council direction it explains that richmond does not currently maintain an armored rescue vehicle in its inventory but may request assistance from another agency in limited circumstances when necessary to preserve life protect the public protect officers or support safe resolution of a critical incident The amendment identifies examples such as a high-risk warrant service, barricaded suspects, hostage situations, active shooter incidents, rescue operations, evaluations during hazardous conditions, and other incidents where ballistic protection or protected movement is necessary. It also clarifies that the assisting agency operates its own vehicle under its own policy, and rich and personnel do not operate another agency's armored vehicle unless separately authorized, trained, and approved. Any use must be documented and included in the department's AB 41 annual report. UAS policy revision, PM section 607. This slide summarizes the UAS policy revision. The revision to policy manual section 607 is intended to better reflect the department's current UAS program, including drone as a first responder operations, updated practices, privacy protections, and AB 41 tracking requirements. The policy states that UAS may be used to enhance the agency's mission of protecting lives and property when other means or resources are unavailable or less effective. It also states that UAS use must comply with constitutional protections, privacy rights, and FAA regulation. The privacy section is important. Absent a warrant or accident circumstances, operators and observers shall not intentionally record or transmit images of any location where a person would have reasonable expectation of privacy. Operators and observers must take reasonable precautions to avoid inadvertently recording areas where there is reasonable expectation of privacy. The policy prohibits random surveillance, harassment, intimidation, discrimination, personal business, and weaponization. Evidence videos is retained according to the established records retention schedule. Complaints, fiscal impact, and projected costs. This next section covers what's in the annual report from pages 45 through 49. It includes complaints and concerns, the notable incident, fiscal impacts, and projected training-related costs. Summary of complaints and concerns. The department is committed to responding to complaints, concerns, and questions in a timely manner. During the 2025 reporting period, there were zero formal complaints related to military equipment. The department also reported zero identified policy violations related to the deployment or use of military equipment. Members of the public can submit questions and complaints or concerns by email. at ab41 at richmondpd.net, by phone at 510-620-6675, or by mail to the Richmond Police Department at 1701 Regala Boulevard, Richmond, California, 94801. This process remains available to the community beyond tonight's meeting. Notable incident. This slide summarizes a notable incident from the report, and I will address it respectfully. On August 4th, 2025, Richmond Police Communications received a 911 call regarding an armed subject inside of a residence, reportedly threatening to kill people. The reporting party indicated the person was armed with at least one knife, and officers were later updated that the individual had armed himself with a second-edge weapon. Officers approached, announced their presence, and were confronted by an individual armed with at least one knife. Two officers discharged their firearms, and an officer-involved shooting occurred. The individual died at the scene. The Contra Costa law enforcement-involved fatal protocol was invoked, and the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office responded to investigate. The report identifies that a patrol rifle carbine, which is categorized as military equipment under AB 41, was deployed and used during this incident. This section is included because AB 41 requires reporting on the use of covered equipment. Fiscal impact. This slide shows military equipment related expenditures from January 1 through December 31 of 2025. The department is budgeted for 147 sworn personnel and 71 professional staff members. The fiscal impact table identifies acquisitions and replacement costs during the reporting period. The grand total listed is $405,425. Major categories include UAS at 46,128, drone as a first responder at 299,454, rifles at 9,698, rifle ammunition at 24,841, diversionary devices at 9,054, and chemical agents at 16,247. Several approved categories had no equipment-related expenditures during the reporting period. Key cost drivers. This slide summarizes the main cost drivers. The largest expenditures in 2025 was drawn as a first responder at $299,454. UAS expenditures were $46,128. Rifle ammunition was $24,841. Chemical agents were $16,247. Diversion devices were $9,054. And rifles were $698. These expenditures include the acquisitions of new equipment and replacement of consumable military equipment. Where it applied, the report identifies annual maintenance and replacement costs. Estimated projected costs for 2026. This slide covers projected training and personnel related costs. The report explains that specialized equipment requires proper training, supervision, qualifications, and policy compliance. The SWAT team training estimate is $546,163. That is based on approximately 26 members when fully staffed, including officers, sergeants, lieutenants, each training approximately 240 hours per year. The patrol rifle program estimate is $53,498. That includes 40-hour patrol rifle course and an annual in-service rifle training and qualifications. The sniper team training estimate is $96,837. That is based on approximately nine members when fully staffed, each training approximately 120 hours per year. The DFR cost shown here is $81,685 for one officer assigned to the DFR program full-time from May 2025 through November 7th of 2025. to support the startup, implementation, coordination, and readiness. The less lethal impact munitions instructor school costs $3,418. These estimates reflect the department's responsibility to ensure that specialized tools are used lawfully, judiciously, and only by properly trained personnel. Incident list and location summary. This slide summarizes the incident list and location summary found on pages 49 through 58 of the report. At City Council's direction, the report includes an incident log identifying the offense, general location, and available demographic information associated with certain military equipment deployments. The incident list is intended to provide additional transparency about the nature of calls and the general circumstances where equipment was deployed. Locations are intentionally listed as general block locations or intersections, not precise addresses. This balances transparency with investigative integrity, safety, and privacy for the victims, witnesses, juveniles, and sensitive tactical information. Not every incident resulted in a known or identifiable suspect, as mentioned earlier. Some entries contain unknown or unavailable demographic information. THE INCIDENT LIST SHOULD BE READ AS A TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TOOL, NOT AS A COMPLETE DEMOGRAPHIC ACCOUNTING OF EVERY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH EVERY DEPLOYMENT. THIS LIST INCLUDES ALL INCIDENTS WHERE EQUIPMENT WAS USED, EXCLUDING DFR, WHICH WAS REPORTED SEPARATELY. THIS SLIDE BRINGS THE PRESENTATION BACK TO THE LARGER PURPOSE OF THE REPORT. AB 41 IS ABOUT TRANSPARENCY, OVERSIGHT AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY. The Richmond Police Department's position is that first responders need appropriate tools, equipment, and training to protect community and safely resolve high risk incidents. At the same time, the department recognizes that the public has a right to understand what equipment exists, why it exists, how it is used, what it costs, what policies control it, and how concerns can be raised. Law enforcement is a partnership between the police and the community. The Richmond Police Department remains committed to working with Richmond's diverse community to help solve problems, address root causes of crime, and improve our quality of life here in Richmond. The final slide provides links and contact information. The AB41 webpage includes the report and related information. The monthly incident summary logs are also available online. Questions, complaints, or concerns can be submitted by email, phone, or mail, as mentioned before. And I want to thank everyone for attending tonight and for engaging in this process. I recognize that this has been a long report. My mouth got dry a couple times, but we will leave this open to questions now, and I'll be available to answer anything that you might have. My team is here as well. Again, this is Lieutenant Patchen and Captain Bichon as well, and they'll be helping me out. And if someone wants to step to the podium and ask some questions, I will seek their help as well to answer some of these questions, if I may. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Julie. I'm a Richmond resident. I want to thank you for the presentation. I appreciate that it was long, but we appreciate how detailed it was. I appreciate what you said about transparency. And I liked that the last slide said that law enforcement is a partnership between police and community. I think that that's true. And I think that conversations like this really go a long way to helping bolster that. that relationship. And to that end, you had a lot in your presentation about costs, acquisition costs, and maintenance costs, and lots of training costs. But what I didn't see in there that I wanted to bring to the discussion is the cost to the community when military weapons are deployed on citizens. It's a serious cost. So I'm originally from Missouri. My dad was raised two blocks from where Mike Brown was shot in 2014. I know you guys remember all that. And one of the worst things about that incident is that the police department in Ferguson responded to that incident and the unrest with a massive militarized response. There were tanks in the street. There were tear gas being deployed. And I saw firsthand the way that that deployment of military weapons against the regular community ripped that community apart and destroyed any trust that existed in that community. So I was pleased to see we don't have armored carriers. I was concerned. I was not pleased to see that you guys are seeking them. But I just want When we're talking about this conversation, there is a real cost to the trust with the community and law enforcement when we start to see military weapons in our communities. It's scary. It's scary to the average person. And I want to make sure that that cost is part of things. I had a separate question, and then I'll let other people talk. About patrol rifles, because I saw that you were talking about when they're allowed to be used, and the first one was whenever you think that the suspect might be armed, or at least that's how I understood it, which sort of seems like every time you guys go out there in the world. So when you talked about the Angel Montoya case and talked about a patrol rifle being used, I genuinely didn't understand in that context why a patrol rifle was used, since it was close range and someone identified with the knife. So I don't know if you could speak to that directly as well.

I can speak to both, actually. So first, thank you. I appreciate the feedback. Honestly, and so I'm John. So everyone knows, they call me J-Lo. I know, I was the original though. But I say that to say this, this is a uniform that we wear. I am proud to serve this community. I grew up in San Pablo. I've worked here all my life. I was an explorer here. And so this is what I know. And this is where I love to serve. I think what sets us apart from I pray what sets us apart from the nation is how we police here in Richmond. Not everyone's going to buy into it. Not everyone's going to believe it, but that's okay. But I think we police here are a little bit different. This is the Bay Area. We are very progressive in how we police and how we train and how we mentor our officers that come on. We give them a lot of training when we onboard. We give them a lot of history of what Richmond is and what the police department has done in the past. And all that is for a reason. So it's rooted into what we do here. So a long answer, and I'm going to wrap up to your first part of your question about the response. We do take consideration as far as what we are showing the community. We don't want to be a militarized policing agency. Our main focus here is you don't have to get ready if you stay ready. There's so much stuff going on in the world. Fairfield just had an attack. There's active shooters all the time, school shootings all the time. We don't want to go to a scene and not be prepared. That is the basis of a lot of these tools. We will never have drones that have weapons on them. We won't. We're not going to ever seek drones to have weapons. There's no purpose for that, especially here in our community. We understand that concept. We do decommission other AB-41 military equipment just because we don't need them. If it's not needed, we get rid of it. If there's stuff that we think makes tactical sense, we will seek it. But ultimately, it comes back to the community. AB 41 is great in that sense. It comes back to the community. It comes back to the city council. City council has that opportunity now. They get to hear what I get to say. They get to hear what the community get to say. Hopefully we can work together, intertwine, and then go from there. But if community says no, we'll find a way, right? To some degree. There's some stuff also we have to be very mindful, and I'll cut this short, I'm sorry. We have to be mindful, too, of there are certain tools that we have that... are just 100% needed in my expertise. I've been working here for 25 years as a law enforcement. I'm considered an expert on policing now, especially doing all of this stuff. And I don't want to live in a community where the police can't protect me. And then to the second part of your question real quick, I fully understand what you're saying. I'm not gonna get into that incident out of respect for the family, but those are just situations where we have policy and we have a lot of review. So, Those types of incidents, other incidents that happen across the nation, they're always reviewed by us. It doesn't have to happen in California. It can happen across the nation. We make sure that we take it seriously. We understand what we're up against. We're a public service agency. That's what we do. And so we take it seriously when we have those type of incidents. So I appreciate against the comments again. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Hi, I'm Juliette. I'm a District 6 resident. I appreciate your comments. I particularly appreciated a comment about the small number of individuals contributing to violent incidents in our city and I know that crime rates are down in the United States for many decades now. That's been a decline and that's true in Richmond too. When I started working in Richmond in youth violence prevention, things were quite different. That was during the time of Chief Magnus and it's nice to see that Crime has gone down. I wanted to ask a few questions. I wanted to follow up on the notion that military grade weapons were designed to be deployed in military contexts in an armed conflict with military combatants, not to be used against people like us who are soft bodies. I also work in emergency departments and in hospital trauma departments, and the trauma surgeons will tell you what these weapons do to a soft human body. It was not intended, they're not, we're not armed We're not trained to defend ourselves. We have no equipment. So I'm concerned about military grade and style weapons being used in our communities against myself and my neighbors and my friends and family. I think that the report, I appreciate the level of detail on the incidents and the potential perpetrators. I also think the report should... itemize the injuries when this equipment is deployed, because that is a cost to us as citizens. How many injuries resulted, what was the nature of the injuries, how many deaths resulted should also be in this report. And then I also had, along those lines, I noticed that some of the, I know the police have a lot of discretion and use of all kinds of force, I wanted to hear more about crowd control. How many times have the police used these weapons for crowd control, and what kind of crowds? When I hear crowds, I think that's me and my friends are a crowd, so how many times have the police used this equipment, and what was the nature of that crowd? Similarly, hostage situations have we used? Have there been hostage situations? How many that call for that might warrant the use of this equipment? Thank you.

No, thank you. I appreciate it, Julia. I'm going to start from the beginning real quick. I'll make it quick. I know that we have a line. I just want to be thorough in this. Military-grade weapons, they are made for war. 100% agree. Military-grade weapons are made for war. The troubling part is we have to be ready. When we say we, it's public safety. We are servants of the city. So we have to have something in order to be ready because those same military-grade weapons that you're talking about are on the streets. And they're in the schools. And they're in... Stuff happens all the time. And so when you call the police and that they have whatever kind of equipment it is to, you know, ballistic equipment to protect themselves, we have to be ready for those incidents. It's always the worst case scenarios. And so, you know, and the equipment that we have here also, like it's. I understand your concern, but again, I really want to focus on what you want your policing agency to do when something really bad happens. And we also want to have the equipment for less lethal encounters as well. We don't want to go into every situation with a lethal encounter. And I think that our agency does really well. We have a lot of training. We're one of the rare agencies that train on shoot, don't shoot, and firearms training once a month. You ask other agencies, there's training once a year, and there's annual quals. A lot of our training is shoot, don't shoot scenarios. If you get in this situation, what are you going to do? We recover a lot of firearms in Richmond, a lot of firearms in Richmond, and I wish I had those stats for you. That's actually a really good point. I'm going to bring those stats for you, but... Yeah, so I'm trying to answer your question as sincerely as possible. Yeah, so let me get to the crowds. So crowd control, we do really well with crowd control. We have a lot of protests in Richmond, and we don't want to get involved, to be honest with you. We just don't. Like, why? Why do the police agencies need to get involved in... in a peaceful protest, even if you're Don't tell these guys, even if you're taking over the streets, right? Like, okay, well, let's do the protest. Let's get it done. And what's the risk versus reward here for us, right? That's just me being honest. If there's public safety and there's things in mind where we have to now take action, we have legal rights under California law, but we have to follow those laws because those laws are specific to crowd control because bad stuff has happened before in LA and Oakland and other areas. So now we have specific laws that are in place just to protect the community members from that. And we take that seriously as well. And then hostage situations. So we have a SWAT team. Our SWAT team is a part-time SWAT team. It's not a full-time SWAT team. So our officers are going to NATO patrol. They also have a collateral assignment, which is they're on the SWAT team. They have to train twice a month to be on the SWAT team in order to stay at that level of where we want them at. I was on the SWAT team for 15 years here in Richmond. It took me three tries to get on our SWAT team. I failed the first time. I failed the second time, and I made it the third time. And it was just – I wanted to make that team because this was the elite team. And they train that way, and they train to go into situations where it's hostile or where there's barricaded suspects or where there's someone that's dangerous – And we don't just go in. We'll do a surround call out. We'll ask for mutual aid to get an armored vehicle to get it there so we have some protection from the community members. There might be an apartment complex behind us, and we need to have a barrier between us and the community. So we'll call them, and then we'll call them out. Hey, yo, we know you're in there. Come out with your hands up. And they do. I mean, that's just so we have different tactics for these kind of these kind of deployments. So barricaded suspects, we have that a lot. We have that a lot of Richmond. And sometimes we need to use different tools and resources and have them come out. And it works. It's just another added resource that we can use. Was there another question I missed? That's noted and it's not in this report, but that's noted for sure. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Hello. My name is Dave Janae. I am a Richmond resident. I want to thank you for the presentation, and I want to thank you for hosting this meeting tonight. I'm really concerned about militarized weapons. As somebody who was born and raised here in Richmond, I remember when Richmond was in the top 10 of the most dangerous cities, and this is before militarized weapons were able to RPD was able to have militarized weapons. And knowing now that the crime rate has gone down, I'm just really confused. And I would love for you to speak to why you need twice more of chemical agents. Why do you need a more tactical robot when you didn't even use it last year? I just would love to know more why you're asking for more. Because as somebody who works with youth, the youth, their families, are not okay in this time you've spoken to how there's so many school shootings and things like that and that's because the people aren't okay and i think that if we took the money that is being used for militarized weapons to control to govern i mean to protect the community and put that to mental health things or to put it to rock or to put it in other things that can help the community so that you don't have to go to calls that could help the community more than just policing and having these militarized weapons. So can you speak to why you're asking for two times as many chemical agents asking for a rescued armored vehicle? Like what happened in this past year that makes you say, hey, we need this. And if anything, we need twice as more.

Sure. So for chemical agents, SSR always are going right. So we do a lot of training. AB 41 doesn't cover the gas or the ammunition that we use for training. So for training, we've got to learn how to... use gas. We got to know what kind of gas it is. We actually, our SWAT team members annually walk through a gas house, no mask on. They need to feel what it's like having snot down their nose and coughing and tears coming out their eyes, have the irritants on their skin. That's all for training and for specific reasons. So a lot of that cost goes into buying more of those equipment that we need for training and then just to have it in stock in case we need to use it. I'll be very transparent with you. I 100% understand what you're saying when you're coming in from, let's use this money for the kids and for education purposes and the root cause. I get it. I get the root cause. I totally get it. I want to be in a community that's prepared. So I, and remember it's a different, you have your perspective and experience and life and we have ours and we just, we come from different planes and we have to meet here in the middle and my experiences are I don't wanna be unprepared. I don't wanna go to a school or a house or anywhere and my SWAT team is not prepared to handle the incident. I cannot, a failure for us is a death, is a loss of life, a loss of lives. I can't go to bed like that. I can't. This is my experience as J-Lo in a uniform talking just because I've seen so much hurt, so much trauma, so many kids who have passed. bloodshed. It's just, I don't want to be unprepared. That's me, that's Jayla, personally. As a department, and as an agency in the city of Richmond where we work, we have to account for all of that. We have to account for what we're asking for, and this is part of it. I am here in front of the public, and I'm explaining our needs and the whys, and it really comes down to Again, the city and the community and the city council saying, yeah, we agree with Jayla over here, not so much over here. That's something that I've got to move on and keep going. But our service and what we do here, we take that very seriously, that public safety. I can't go home and not win because someone could lose their life. I hope that answered a little bit of it. Yes, thank you.

Hi there, my name is Fox K. My pronouns are she, her. Sorry, and you said your name was John? John, yes. Or J-Lo. Is that too informal if I call you John?

No, no, not at all.

No, so John, it really breaks my heart because you seem like a really sweet person. And I know you all think you're doing your jobs. Like, I genuinely mean that. I know that this is your day to day. But I have a hard time going to sleep at night, too, because I live in District 3, and I'm surrounded by homelessness. And I worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA, and I served my country. I affirmed the same oath that our service members do, that our Congress members do. I got paid $30,000 a year to fight poverty. That's how little my work is valued. And I did it here in Richmond, living in the Iron Triangle. I work with kids too. And I noticed that in your stats that the ethnicities that were targeted were mostly black and brown. And over a third were youth, 0 to 29 years old. And then I saw for the 40 to 50 plus range, that was around almost 20%. So half of the people that are being targeted by this weaponry or this technology is youth or the elderly. And that is incredibly concerning to me, right? And the fact that I saw the costs for SWAT training, sniper training, right? And my question is, is with such exorbitant costs, right? I mean, $500,000, like hundreds of thousands of dollars. I got paid $30,000 a year to fight poverty. Why are we spending so much on military weaponry when it is not being used? I can understand being prepared if you had one or two rifles. Okay, that makes sense. Even 10. But 82 rifles and the cost to maintain every single one of those rifles, to pay for the ammunition... to use during the training. If you're training for something that never happens and we're spending so much money on it when it could be going to our services, when it could be going to me, why are we spending it on something that never happens? So that, John, is my question to you.

I love the passion and I love the question. I thank you for the feedback also. I will answer it as honestly as I can, to be honest with you. It costs that much because that's how much life matters. I don't think I'm gonna have an answer for you that's gonna be okay. But the training matters and you're right. We didn't have to use it that often because we've been trained Knock on wood, man. I don't want anything to happen in our city, and I don't want to jinx anything. But the training does account for less uses of force, less officer-involved shootings. It accounts for all of those things. The training, when I got here in our SWAT team, we would have a search warrant. We'd go into a house, and it was like in the movies. You break the door down, you go in, you're flooding every single room, and it was like wham-bam, and everyone's in handcuffs. We've learned from that. We've evolved from that. And that was the cheaper way of doing it. The more expensive way is having an armored vehicle, having the whole house surrounded, using other agencies to help, using gas if we have to use gas to get somebody out. Because the old way could cost lives going in that way. So I don't have the clear answer for you in that aspect. Just a perspective, really. Hello.

Hi there. My name is Malu and I'm actually a resident of Pinole, but I visit Richmond frequently and I'm family and friends of Richmond residents here in the Hilltop and downtown as well.

Thank you for coming.

Yeah. So there are two points that I wanted to bring up today. One was that I saw that there are 15 UASs mentioned in the 2025 report, but only eight in the last report. And I don't see anywhere where these seven extra UASs were requested. So as far as I see, that is a policy violation that I would like addressed. This is almost doubling of the flock UASs that we have. And as an immigrant, I am concerned that this will violate our free ice zone ordinances. So that is something I would love for the department to double check. Another thing is that I want to speak a little bit more to what we are saying around community safety and whether this is something that we truly need as preparedness. Our stats are showing us that this is impacting black and brown people. Angel Montano was a brown man with a mental illness that was shot. as a direct impact of the weapons that we acquired. And I just want it noted that we had 333 deployments of patrol rifles, but only one use. And I see that as patrol rifles being used ineffectively to threaten us, and then to kill us when we request help. So I would like to see more stats on what racial categories, what age groups, what area of Richmond these deployments are taking place in and have this noted on the incident log so we can see if people in Richmond that deserve safety as well, that are suffering from homelessness, that are suffering from unemployment, from mental illnesses, this was a vet, that they're being protected too and they are not being considered threats in Richmond. Thank you very much.

I appreciate that and they are noted. Thank you very much.

Hello.

Good evening. Excuse me. Good evening. My name is Raymond. Thank you, Captain, for the presentation and all the information. I also wanted to see something about the new drones. Cause I, cause I thought I understood in the presentation that it was saying that they were not the new drones, that they were not approved through the AB 41 process, but through the flock renewal. Is that, did I have that right? Correct. So, yeah. So, I mean, I also agree that I think it's just really important to for the, acquisition of new equipment to go through this community engagement process and the whole process outlined by AB 481. My other question slash comment, so there's, I hear you saying we want to be prepared for the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario, I mean, that could be like an alien invasion or something like doesn't that that that principle of just if that's kind of like your guiding principle through this, then I don't see how there would ever be any real limits on acquiring new military weapons or, you know, the costs associated with them and, you know, all the costs that folks have been talking about. doesn't that have to be balanced with civil rights, civil liberties, and just limitations on state power in our lives? So, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for the report. Hello. Appreciate the details. And I just want to say it's really great to see so many young people here and involved in the community. Can you hear me okay? Yes. So my name is Janice Haogan, and I'm a 15-year resident here in Richmond. I'm part of a grassroots effort to stop the use of illegal fireworks. for all the reasons that you've heard before, fires, injuries, trauma to pets in people with dementia, autism, PTSD, and especially people with mental illness, particularly anxiety disorders. You know, it's definitely not a victimless crime. Last summer, for the first time, drones were used to cite violators. They also found, I think, something over like $10,000 worth of illegal fireworks and illegal guns. So I'm wondering what the plans are this year for protecting residents, particularly those with mental illness, from the trauma of days and nights of disturbing booms from illegal fireworks. So will drones be used again to issue citations to protect residents who, for all residents, but in particular residents who suffer from mental illness? And I'm hoping you're going to say yes. And I do have more questions, so I'll get in the back of the line again.

So we do have a planned operation for the 3rd and 4th. The 3rd is a city operation where they're going to have fireworks over the water. And they have a security detail for that event. We will have extra officers on the streets just really for traffic control to make sure everyone gets home safely. The 4th of July is notoriously known for illegal fireworks in the city of Richmond. If you guys live in Richmond and drive through at nighttime the 4th of July, it gets pretty crazy. I work here just about every year. I worked here last year. We had a team of officers that went out and it's completely overwhelming. It's completely dangerous. Not every part. There's people who are barbecuing and hanging out and enjoying the Fourth of July. But we did recover a lot of firearms that night, foot chases and injuries. There's a small group of people that just don't want to enjoy it like everybody else. And so this year, along the same lines, we're really trying to get the message out to the community. We're doing a public service announcement video that's going to be on KCRT, kind of explaining the... illegal fireworks. It's not just illegal in Richmond. It's illegal through all of Contra Costa County and how important that is. Some of our strategy using the DFR to see individuals who are not only just lighting the fireworks but also starting storing the fireworks, illegal fireworks were extremely dangerous. We recovered over $10,000 worth of fireworks last year and notably it was individuals who were coming from out of the city and driving in and either selling them or setting them off themselves. So with that, knowing that we have, you know, a serious public safety issue every year, we're doing the same thing this Fourth of July, making sure that we have a plan in place, and hopefully everyone can enjoy the Fourth of July safely. Yes.

So my name is Claudia Citrin. Just appreciate that you live in neighborhoods where you don't see guns. In my neighborhood, I saw 10 to 20 guns last year, not by PD, but by people, by pimps, by other folks. They just walk around and you actually can see it. Luckily, most of them were arrested. Unfortunately, most of them are in those groups which were listed as majority of incidents. So if you talk about weapons and the impact it has on people, maybe you also consider in your equation the impact it has if you see just two houses down, three young people, and you know, just kind of flashing a big automatic rifle with a silencer. And maybe you consider how it is if you hear conversations of young people as they plan killings. Those shootings happened, these are residents who hear them, and I want officers to be safe when they deal with people who are serious about using those guns because they know they're at the end of the road and if they bail there, You know, if they're bailed their court dates, they know they're in deeper trouble. So I'm just asking you to, when you have those conversations and those requests, think about residents who live in neighborhoods who live with people having guns. I've seen them in pimps opening the trunk and there's a big automatic weapon in there. I've seen them actually pull them out and point them at me. I have had people shoot up cars and they didn't hit mine because I drive a Subaru. So I'm glad that officers are willing to deal with people who have guns hidden in their cars and their not in their mental clarity to know that using them against an officer is not a good idea. And secondly, I want to just point out, I'm so excited to see so many drone operation in June and July. That just tells me that the firework operations are happening. Again, when you talk about drones, think about how they're used. Do you want to have fireworks in your neighborhood? Do you want to have those big booms going off like for a month? If you don't, look at the drones differently. I guess that was my wrap speech. Thank you. And I really appreciate your questions. I appreciate your concerns. I'm just asking to widen your view and also think how community feels about being exposed to weapons, not from PD, but from the guys who use it. Thank you.

Thank you. Julia, right?

Julia, yeah, thank you. I realize I've had a turn and I'll be brief because I realized I didn't say what I wanted to have happen, which is the point of this conversation. And I think what that data showed us, particularly about the assault rifles, and I want to be clear, no one is asking for police to be disarmed completely. No one is asking for that. What we are asking for, what I'm asking for, is for assault rifles to to be taken out of the law enforcement equation. Because what we saw with the data was that these assault rifles, that you call patrol rifles, were deployed, it was like 330 times, and they were used one time. And the one time they were used was a circumstance where they were totally inappropriate to be used. They were faced with a mentally ill person with a knife, and you had somebody with an assault rifle that shot them at close range, which is absolutely not what these assault rifles are for. So what that tells us is there was not a single circumstance last year where these assault rifles were necessary. And they are costing us many, many thousands of dollars, both in training and in getting them. And so what we are asking for as a community is not that you disarm completely, but that you ban assault rifles from law enforcement activity with civilians. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, thank you very much. Andrew Melendez, lifelong Richmond resident. Yeah, I just want to thank you again for the presentation. I think it's, again, really... You said Andrew? Andrew, yes. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Yeah, thank you very much. So yeah, I think, you know, we got to hear a lot through this report, a lot about the drone usage. And, you know, one thing I'll highlight is we're seeing that it's being used more often, right? I think based on the research. I think it was about twice as much was used in 2025 as opposed to the year prior. And I saw as well in the incident report that it's also being used indoors now as well. So again, just to, you know, just want to get some clarity as well on kind of the way that we're ensuring that the surveillance of our communities, the privacy of our communities are protected, particularly our immigrant communities. We know that the... What's it called? The drones, the first responder drones. We know that they're being currently operated by Flock, which I'm sure a lot of us know it's controversial. We've been back and forth having lots of discussions about Flock and what that means for the community, as well as the many security and privacy concerns that that particular company has. And so I just want to know in regards to utilizing FLOC for the drones as first responders, how the police department is ensuring that in using that program that you're still adherent to the ice-free zones ordinance that we have and just generally making sure that our immigrant communities and our privacy is kept safe.

Thank you for the question. And we're going to answer your questions and two more, and then we're going to call it after that. So FLOC security. Okay. We got burned, right? The chief said we got burned, right? So all of our measures that we have in place right now, I'm getting emails from our IT every week. What's going on with Flock? What's going on with Flock? Checking the parameters, checking our data, checking the transparency portal pages, conversations with Flock. We're having them a lot. So we say that because we're not trying to get burned again. Just being honest. So we are we're really diligent right now to make sure that all those avenues, all those barriers are secure, especially for our immigrant community. We go out to Latinas Center all the time. I have discussions with our immigrant community a lot. You know, we want people to feel comfortable to call the police if they need help. Like we don't want them to be scared. We don't want to have, we don't want individuals thinking that they can't call us. That's the outside of what public safety is. So that concerns us as well. We want to make sure that everyone is on the same page as far as the tools that we have. Chief Simmons is on that same page. I mean, trust me, I get his calls all the time just to verify that we're doing, that flock is doing what they need to be doing. And so it's highlighted. It's very important. I know that our contract, I believe, is going at the end of this year until December. Yes. And then we also have a – RFP for other companies as well. So we're looking through that with our RIT and our chief of police. So I don't have the answers for you where we're going, but we are being very vigilant about it. Sorry, my mouth is dry right now. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, yes.

Yes, so... My background is in human resources and I'm very aware of employee safety and I'm just wondering if there's a balance in terms of money saved with the cost of, I'm thinking particularly of of drones as first responders, drones going into buildings to check them out, to make sure they're safe and all that. So in terms of preventing injuries, preventing lost time at work, you know, officers being on sick time, I mean, do you see this as an investment that's paying for itself? Thank you. Repeat the question. With what we're getting at the end product of... Yeah, because there's a lot of cost in training and for buying drones and that kind of stuff. I see what you're saying. Does it prevent injuries, prevent officer deaths? If an officer is killed, then you have to rehire and train people. No, I understand.

I got the second part. Mixed up. So it's hard to say how that works, right? Because when we use the drone for preventive measures, like when the DFR goes out to a scene before an officer gets there and it shows that we have a victim that's down and And the officers are now coming in because we have GPS on the cars, too, so we can see where the officers are and how they're going to coordinate a response. It's hard to say, like, how would it be if we didn't have the DFR, right? And there was an active shooter, and he was shooting from this location. You know, again, we can play what-ifs. I think you guys heard me already give some what-ifs. I don't want to surround everything that we do in the what-ifs. I think someone else mentioned it to me, like, You can't live in that world, and I completely understand that. I am just trained to be prepared also, so some of that is in me as well. The tool and the resource of DFR, I believe this is the cutting edge, and it's probably where policing is going. Now, if Richmond's going to go in that direction, it's not up to me. I'm just saying that's probably where policing is going, in my honest opinion, because the resource is that valuable. Thank you again. Yes, sir.

Hi, my name is Garland. I've lived in Richmond for 70 years. I've seen a lot of things happening. First off, there's a lot of misconceptions that are being brought up here. First off, drones are the new technology. They replace a police helicopter. A drone is a whole lot cheaper than a police helicopter. It can get to the area a whole lot quicker. It gives the police department an eyes on what the situation is before they can get there. It helps to prepare them for what they're going to walk into. With regards to the stats as to nationalities, you could say, of people who have been involved in incidences, I'm a minority in Richmond. If you go back 60 years ago, I might have been in the majority. More than 10 years ago, the majority became Hispanic. After that, African American. After that, Asian. After that, white. So when you look at the figures on the board, don't think that they're just picking on one nationality. of what's going on in the city. And so you need to consider what they're doing more than who they are as far as their color. As far as officers responding to incidences, the Richmond Police Department at one time had something like 240 officers. This was back when there was a whole lot of crime and a whole lot of instances in the city. It then dropped down to around 200. The city now mandates, through a defunding of the police department, a limit of 142. And they don't even have that many. Even though they have training, even though they have people being brought in with retirements, It's hard for them to even reach that 140 quotient. When you consider that there are three shifts for normal people through the day, and you also have weekends, the police department in Richmond is spread thin. Oftentimes for an area there's only one officer, maybe two if they're lucky in an area, That means that when they respond to a call, they don't know what they're getting into. They have to be prepared on all levels. They can't wait 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes for somebody to bring what you guys are calling an assault weapon. They have to deal with the situation right then. They have to be prepared. The other thing is A police car does not make a very good shield for a bullet. A bullet will go right through it. The vest that a police officer wears will not completely stop all bullets. They have to have something that they can be able to fight back with. The bad guys have more than what the police have. And it's been that way in Richmond for many, many, many years. And what you're calling an assault weapon is a definition by the state. It's not based upon the caliber of the rifle. It's not based upon what the rifle is used for. It's based upon its looks. If you don't believe me, look at the definition in the state codes. Why are they so popular today? Because that's what's made the most. It became popular for people to buy, and so that's what a lot of people buy. Does it mean that it's more stronger than what the other people have, or if it's in another configuration? No, it doesn't. So when you start to look at what's being called military equipment, it's not really military equipment as what the military uses today. If the military were to use the same equipment that the police department's using now, they would lose. They would not be prepared. The military definition is by the state and has done so to discredit what the police department has to use. The other thing too, we do have people that go to cases where there's mental people involved But guess what? The police department has to back them up. Because half the time, it's not a situation that this individual can deal with. And unfortunately, a lot of times weapons are involved. The police department does a lot for you in Richmond. Appreciate that there's just a few instances Because there was a time when their murder rate was over 70. And it was very common to see somebody carrying a MAC-10 or some other type of a weapon down the street. Or to hear constant gunfire and gang wars going on every day and night. Yes, it has been decreasing. You should be thankful for that. Not everybody has that same safety. Thank you.

I, uh, I want to conclude tonight, um, by, you know, I appreciate everyone attending here. Um, we're not all going to have the same opinions. Uh, like I was telling, I forgot her name. I wrote her name down. I'm sorry. I think it was Janae. Um, Yeah, we have different perspectives. We come from different areas, different backgrounds. I haven't lived in your shoes. I have lived in your shoes. You guys haven't lived in mine. Seeing what we see, we have different experiences. But what we do have is the community. That's what community is. We have a same like-minded idea that we're trying to get somewhere good for everyone involved here. And so that's our stance at the police department. I appreciate your time. We're going to have these conversations. I look forward to this when we do have them. It's actually an opportunity for us just to communicate exactly, do what we do and why we do it. So again, thank you for your time, concerns. All the feedback will be included with our addendum to the council so they're aware. This is also going to be recorded and uploaded. And again, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.