Chapter 9.90
AB 481 MILITARY EQUIPMENT USE

Sections:

9.90.010    Military equipment policy.

9.90.010 MILITARY EQUIPMENT POLICY.

(a)    The city council hereby adopts the January 2024 military equipment use policy (“policy”) set forth in Santa Cruz Police Department Policy 705 after having made the following determinations:

(1)    The military equipment inventoried and presented in the policy is necessary because there is no reasonable alternative that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety;

(2)    The proposed policy will safeguard the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties;

(3)    The equipment identified in the policy is reasonably cost effective compared to available alternatives that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety, if any;

(4)    Prior military equipment use complied with the military equipment use policy that was in effect at the time, or, if prior uses did not comply with the accompanying military equipment use policy, corrective action has been taken to remedy nonconforming uses and ensure future compliance.

(b)    The police department has submitted a proposed policy to the city council and has made those documents available on the police department’s website for at least thirty days prior to the public hearing concerning the military equipment at issue.

(c)    The policy was considered by the city council as an agenda item in an open session of a regular meeting, noticed in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act, at which public comment was permitted.

(d)    The policy shall be made publicly available on the police department’s website for as long as the military equipment is available for use.

(e)    The police department shall submit an annual military equipment report to the city council, containing the information required in Government Code Section 7072, and the city council shall determine whether each type of military equipment identified in that report has complied with the standards for approval set forth in subsections (a)(1) through (4).

(f)    The city council shall review this chapter and vote on whether to renew it, on an annual basis at a regular meeting, in accordance with Government Code Section 7071(e)(2).

(g)    The city council approves the use of the policy and finds that it satisfies the requirements of Government Code Section 7070(d).

(Ord. 2024-05 § 1, 2024; Ord. 2023-05 § 1, 2023; Ord. 2022-09 § 1, 2022).