The San Diego County Sheriff's Department recently released a report detailing all its current military equipment, including 44 aerial drones, 24 robots and four armored vehicles.
Under a new law signed in 2021 — AB 481 — law enforcement agencies must report annually what military equipment they have and what they plan on acquiring. They also must hold yearly public forums to get public input and respond to concerns.
Among the department's planned acquisitions is a new BearCat to replace its current one and an armored tracked vehicle.
BearCats are armored four-wheel personnel carriers equipped with a machine gun mount. The department reported owning one M240 machine gun capable of mounting to the BearCat.
The department has not determined what armored tracked vehicle to acquire, said Lt. David LaDieu, a department spokesperson, in an email. LaDieu added that many large purchases are conducted via grants and the process can take a lot of time.
"This type of purchase goes through a long approval process which may take years," LaDieu said.
