Attachment B - PAPD 2025 AB 481 Annual Report — Palo Alto City Council, December 8, 2025

2025 Annual Report

AB 481 - Military Equipment

Background
On September 30, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a series of eight (8) policing reform bills including Assembly Bill 481 (AB 481), which regulated the acquisition and use of military equipment by local law enforcement agencies.

On September 27, 2022, in accordance with AB 481, the Palo Alto City Council adopted Ordinance No. 5562, approving Palo Alto Police Department Policy 716: Military Equipment. The ordinance was most recently renewed by the Council on November 4, 2024.

Summary
The Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) had equipment in 5 of the 15 categories requiring reporting by AB 481 in FY25. The equipment has been used minimally, largely related to training and certification.

The City has not received any complaints, audits, or policy violations regarding the use or acquisition of the equipment. PAPD has diligently followed the established Department Policy (716), ensuring transparency and accountability in its operations. Plans for future equipment purchases meeting the reporting requirements of AB 481 are minimal and mostly focused on replacing or replenishing equipment used throughout the year. Planned purchased are anticipated to be made using the Department’s general fund budget.

Introduction
As required by AB 481, City Ordinance 5562, and PAPD Policy 716, PAPD must prepare an annual report on the use, over the last year, of each type of military equipment approved in the Policy. Subsequently, the City Council must review the Ordinance, Policy, and AB 481 Annual Report and determine whether PAPD's use of the defined military equipment in the past year complied with the Policy and whether to renew the Ordinance.

AB 481 Categories

PAPD has equipment meeting 5 of the 15 categories set forth in AB 481 and PAPD Policy 716, in bold. PAPD utilized equipment, owned by other agencies, meeting 1 other category*:

1. Unmanned, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicles*

2. Mine-resistant ambush-protected ve hicles or armored personnel carriers

3. High mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV), two-a nd-one-half-ton trucks, five-ton trucks, or wheeled vehicles that have a breaching or entry apparatus attached

4. Tracked armored vehicles that provid e ballistic protection to their occupants

5. Command and control vehicles that are either built or modified to facilitate the operational control and direction of public safety units

6. Weaponized aircraft, vessels, or vehicles of any kind

7. Battering rams, slugs, and breaching a pparatuses that are explosive in nature

8. Firearms and ammunition of .50 caliber or greater, excluding standard-issue shotguns

9. Ammunition of .50 caliber or greater, excluding standard-issue shotgun ammunition

10. Specialized firearms and ammunition of less than .50 caliber, including firearms and accessories identified as assault weapons in Penal Code § 30510 and Penal Code §30515, with the exception of standard-issue service weapons and ammunition of less than .50 caliber

11. Any firearm or firearm accessory that is designed to launch explosive projectiles

12. Noise-flash diversionary devices, explosive breaching tools or munitions containing tear gas or OC, excluding standard, service-issued handheld pepper spray

13. TASER® Shockwave, microwave weapons, wa ter cannons, and long-range acoustic devices

14. Kinetic energy weapons and munitions

15. Any other equipment as determined by a governing body or a state agency to require additional oversight

Annual Reporting Requirements

AB 481 requires that police departments identify, at a minimum, six elements in their annual reports for each type of equipment:

1. Summary of how each type of equipmen t was used and the purpose of that use;

2. Quantity possessed of ea ch type of equipment;

3. Annual costs for each type of equipment;

4. Summary of complaints or concerns received for each type of equipment;

5. Information disclosing violations of m ilitary equipment policies and actions taken in response, as well as the result of internal audits; and;

6. Plans to acquire additional military equipmen t in the coming year, and the quantity sought.

The table on the following pages provide this information in the categories of Quantity, Costs, Summary Use and Purpose, Complaints, Policy Violations, and Future Purchases.

The reporting period for this report is from July 1, 2024 thru June 30, 2025 (the end of Fiscal Year 2025).

Equipment Name Qty Reporting Period
Costs
Summary of Use & Purpose Complaints Policy
Violations
Planned Future
Purchases
Category 5: Command and Control Vehicles
MEOC 1 $16,949 in
maintenance
and equipment
costs
The MEOC serves as a resource for
public safety. It is deployed to “all
hazards” ranging from natural disasters,
wildfires, crime, special events, and
planned and unplanned
disruptions to 9-1-1 and Emergency
Operations Center systems and facilities.

Beyond training uses, the MEOC was
deployed, operationally, 6 times in FY25:
- 07/04/24 Fire watch detail
- 07/27/24 MSC Open House
- 08/06/24 National Night Out
- 09/29/24 Airport Day
- 05/31-06/01/25 Concert
- 06/27/25 Torch Run
None None Maintenance
and equipment
costs not
expected to
exceed
$45,000
Category 10: Specialized Firearms and Ammunition of less than .50 caliber Bolt Action Rifle 1 None This ri fle is authorized for use by a specially-trained, SWAT marksman only
and may be deployed in any
circumstance where the officer can
articulate a reasonable expectation that
the rifle may be needed.