SACRAMENTO, California — Sacramento residents have until the end of Friday to tell the the Sacramento Police Department their thoughts on the 2023 Military Use Equipment report and policy through an online survey.
According to the department's recently-updated Military Equipment Use Report, about 30% of physical confrontations with Sacramento police involved the use of military equipment.
A total of 26 incidents involving military equipment use on 18 suspects were reported by Sacramento police.
They are now seeking more than $360,000 from Sacramento city officials to replenish their equipment supply. Such equipment includes:
- Advanced drones
- Assault weapons
- Less-lethal rounds and projectiles
Sacramento police adopted its initial Military Equipment Use policy in response to criticism over protest disbursement tactics officers used during the 2020 protests over George Floyd's killing.
The 2021 to 2022 policy was approved by city councilmembers last year, but Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Chair Graciela Castillo-Krings said they have been urging police to gather more public input.
"The commission is really trying to have a space for us to have a dialogue where we can think about policies that are impacting all of us, it can be thoughtful, and can take into consideration some of the past mistakes so that we don't repeat them again," said Castillo-Krings in July.
City officials also helped run three community meetings where Sacramento residents gave their thoughts in-person on the military equipment use policy — though only records of the first meeting were published because of "community concerns" and "technical difficulties."
