The Chula Vista City Council is changing its rules on when police can buy military equipment, a move some critics said could give the department more power to purchase powerful weapons without seeking approval from elected officials.
In most cases, the Chula Vista Police Department must ask the City Council before it can buy new military equipment. But the city’s previous policy did authorize the department to replace anything the council had already authorized or purchase “additional equipment of the same type.”
At their meeting last week though, the City Council voted to add new language to those rules.
According to an annotated version of the policy published last week, which shows both the old language and new changes, city officials added that police could purchase equipment without Council approval in what they described as “rare and exigent circumstances.”
Examples of those circumstances, the new policy read, could include “riots” and “prolonged critical incidents.” It still said police could only buy equipment that the council has already approved, and it added the City Manager now has to sign off on those purchases.
Activists said that the new language was too ambiguous. In a letter to the City Council last week, Margaret Baker with the civil rights advocacy group South Bay People Power pointed out that the policy did not include any definition of an exigent circumstance.
“Pretty much any circumstance could be argued to be exigent,” Baker wrote.
Baker pointed to the City of Berkeley, which she said maintains a clearer definition of the phrase.
That city describes an exigent circumstance as one where “a law enforcement agency’s good faith belief that an emergency involving the danger of, or imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to any person requires the use of unapproved Controlled Equipment.”
The Chula Vista City Council’s decision took place at their regular meeting on April 21, during a series of annual forums on the use of military equipment.
California law requires local police departments to submit yearly reports and policies on the use of military equipment to their city councils for review.
Like many police departments, Chula Vista police maintain a heavy arsenal of military equipment that includes drones, armored vehicles and assault rifles.
The City Council did not make any changes to the policy, passing it with little discussion last week.
In her letter, Baker also raised concerns about the city’s process for requesting public input. Baker said only nine people were able to attend the city’s first military equipment forum, which she said was held during work hours and inside the police department.
“Some attendees reported they felt intimidated entering the police station,” Baker said. “There seemed to be no method for documenting the questions and comments raised at the meeting.”
During the council’s meeting last week, Councilmember Jose Preciado said the City Manager, Tiffany Allen, would be setting up additional outreach events.
“I know there’s a lot of sensibilities around these particular topics, but it’s important that we verify to the public that we’re using these items for the general well-being and safety,” Preciado said.
A city forum the following week on April 29 was nearly empty.
