ATTACHMENT NO. 2
ORDINANCE NO. 4316
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTER 14 (“EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND EMERGENCY SERVICES”) OF THE CITY OF POMONA CITY CODE BY ADDING DIVISION 5 (“MILITARY EQUIPMENT USE POLICY”) TO ARTICLE IV (“POLICE DEPARTMENT”), GOVERNING THE USE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT BY THE POMONA POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEREAS, on September 30, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 481 (“AB 481”), adding Chapter 12.8, “Funding, Acquisition and Use of Military Equipment”, to Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code (sections 7070 – 7075), relating to the use of military equipment by California law enforcement agencies; WHEREAS, the acquisition of military equipment and its deployment in our communities adversely impacts the public’s safety and welfare, including increased risk of civilian deaths, significant risks to civil rights, civil liberties, and physical and psychological well-being, and incurment of significant financial costs. Military equipment is more frequently deployed in low-income Black and Brown communities, meaning the risks and impacts of police militarization are experienced most acutely in marginalized communities; WHEREAS, the public has a right to know about any funding, acquisition, or use of military equipment by state or local government officials, as well as a right to participate in any government agency’s decision to fund, acquire, or use such equipment; WHEREAS, decisions regarding whether and how military equipment is funded, acquired, or used should give strong consideration to the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties, and should be based on meaningful public input; WHEREAS, legally enforceable safeguards, including transparency, oversight, and accountability measures, must be in place to protect the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties before military equipment is funded, acquired, or used; WHEREAS, the lack of a public forum to discuss the acquisition of military equipment jeopardizes the relationship police have with the community, which can be undermined when law enforcement is seen as an occupying force rather than a public safety service; WHEREAS, the Pomona Police Department is in possession of certain items of equipment that qualify as “military equipment” under AB 481 and further intends to acquire other items of military equipment; WHEREAS, AB 481 requires that a law enforcement agency possessing and using such qualifying equipment must prepare a publicly released, written, military equipment use policy document covering the inventory, description, quantity, purpose, capabilities, use, lifespan, acquisition, maintenance, authorized use, fiscal impacts, procedures, training, oversight, and complaint process, applicable to the Department’s use of such equipment; WHEREAS, the policy must be approved by the City Council by ordinance, and reviewed annually thereafter; and WHEREAS, the military equipment inventoried and presented to the City Council is necessary because there is no reasonable alternative that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety; WHEREAS, the proposed Military Equipment Use Policy, Pomona Police Department Policy 706, will safeguard the public’s health, welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties; WHEREAS, the equipment is reasonably cost effective compared to available alternatives that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety; WHEREAS, prior military equipment use complied with the applicable equipment use policy (which included equipment now defined as military equipment) 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; WHEREAS, the Pomona Police Department has submitted the proposed Policy to the City Council and thereafter has made those documents available on the Police Department’s website for at least 30 days prior to the public hearing concerning the military equipment at issue; WHEREAS, the Policy satisfies the requirements of Government Code Section 7070(d); WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Pomona, having received the information required under AB 481 regarding the Pomona Police Department’s use of military equipment as defined in said law, deems it to be in the best interest of the City to and hereby does approve the Military Equipment Policy.
WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that there is a need to enact the restrictions contained in this Ordinance to protect the public health, safety and welfare; and WHEREAS, all legal prerequisites prior to the adoption of this Ordinance have occurred.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Pomona as follows:
SECTION 1. Recitals. The City Council finds that all the recitals, facts, findings, and conclusions set forth above in the preamble of this Ordinance are true and correct.
SECTION 2. A new Division 5 (“Military Equipment Use Policy”) is added to Article IV (“Police Department”), amending Chapter 14 (“Emergency Management and Emergency Services”) of the Pomona City Code, State of California, to read as follows:
Division 5. Military Equipment Use Policy.
(a) The City Council hereby adopts a Military Equipment Use Policy which shall govern the use of military equipment by the Pomona Police Department. The Policy is attached to this Ordinance as Exhibit A. (b) The Policy shall be made publicly available on the Police Department’s website for as long as the military equipment is available for use or as otherwise ordained by the City Council. (c) The Police Department shall submit an annual military equipment report to the City Council containing the information required by Government Code Section 7072 and the City Council shall thereafter determine whether each type of military equipment identified therein complied with the standards for approval set forth in Government Code Section 7071(d). (d) The City Council shall on an annual basis and at a regular meeting thereof review this ordinance and vote on whether to renew pursuant to Government Code Section 7071(e)(2). (e) The definitions set forth in Government Code section 7070 shall apply to this ordinance. Any provision of state law referred to herein shall mean and include any amended or successor provision thereof.
SECTION 3. Compliance with CEQA. Adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061 (b)(3) (General Rule) of the CEQA Guidelines because it is not a “project” and because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the passage of this Ordinance will have a significant effect on the environment.
SECTION 4. Inconsistencies. Any provision of the Pomona City Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 5. Severability. If any chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or portion of this Ordinance, or the application thereof to any person, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance or its application to other persons. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions of the application thereof to any person, be declared invalid or unconstitutional. No portion of this Ordinance shall supersede any local, state, or federal law, regulation, or codes dealing with life safety factors.
SECTION 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this Ordinance, and shall cause same to be posted as required by law, and this Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after its adoption.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of May, 2022.
CITY OF POMONA:
_____________________________
Tim Sandoval
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: ATTEST:
______________________________ _____________________________ Sonia Carvalho Rosalia A. Butler, MMC
City Attorney City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
CITY OF POMONA
I, ROSALIA A. BUTLER, MMC, CITY CLERK of the City of Pomona do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced for first reading at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Pomona held on May 2, 2022 and was adopted at second reading at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Pomona held on May 16, 2022, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
_______________________________
Rosalia A. Butler, MMC
City Clerk
EXHIBIT A
MILITARY EQUIPMENT USE POLICY
Policy706Policy706Pomona Police Department
Policy
706
Policy
706
Pomona PD CA Policy Manual
Military Equipment
PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for the approval, acquisition, and reporting requirements of military equipment (Government Code § 7070; Government Code § 7071; Government Code § 7072).
DEFINITIONS
Definitions related to this policy include (Government Code § 7070):
Governing body – The elected or appointed body that oversees the Department.
Military equipment – Includes but is not limited to the following:
Unmanned, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicles.
Mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles or armored personnel carriers.
High mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV), two-and-one-half-ton trucks, five-ton trucks, or wheeled vehicles that have a breaching or entry apparatus attached.
Tracked armored vehicles that provide ballistic protection to their occupants.
Command and control vehicles that are either built or modified to facilitate the operational control and direction of public safety units.
Weaponized aircraft, vessels, or vehicles of any kind.
Battering rams, slugs, and breaching apparatuses that are explosive in nature. This does not include a handheld, one-person ram.
Firearms and ammunition of .50 caliber or greater, excluding standard-issue shotguns and standard-issue shotgun ammunition.
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 handguns.
Any firearm or firearm accessory that is designed to launch explosive projectiles.
Noise-flash diversionary devices and explosive breaching tools.
Munitions containing tear gas or OC, excluding standard, service-issued handheld pepper spray.
TASER® Shockwave, microwave weapons, water cannons, and long-range acoustic devices (LRADs).
Kinetic energy weapons and munitions.
Any other equipment as determined by a governing body or a state agency to require additional oversight.
POLICY
It is the policy of the Pomona Police Department that members of this department comply with the provisions of Government Code § 7071 with respect to military equipment.
MILITARY EQUIPMENT COORDINATOR
The Chief of Police should designate a member of this department to act as the military equipment coordinator. The responsibilities of the military equipment coordinator include but are not limited to:
Acting as liaison to the governing body for matters related to the requirements of this policy.
Identifying department equipment that qualifies as military equipment in the current possession of the Department, or the equipment the Department intends to acquire that requires approval by the governing body.
Conducting an inventory of all military equipment at least annually.
Collaborating with any allied agency that may use military equipment within the jurisdiction of Pomona Police Department (Government Code § 7071).
Preparing for, scheduling, and coordinating the annual community engagement meeting to include:
Publicizing the details of the meeting.
Preparing for public questions regarding the department’s funding, acquisition, and use of equipment.
Preparing the annual military equipment report for submission to the Chief of Police and ensuring that the report is made available on the department website (Government Code § 7072).
Establishing the procedure for a person to register a complaint or concern, or how that person may submit a question about the use of a type of military equipment, and how the Department will respond in a timely manner.
MILITARY EQUIPMENT USE POLICY
Pursuant to California Government Code §7070, the Police Department will submit a Military Equipment Use Policy for approval to the Pomona City Council annually.
APPROVAL
The Chief of Police or the authorized designee shall obtain approval from the governing body by way of an ordinance adopting the military equipment policy. As part of the approval process, the Chief of Police or the authorized designee shall ensure the proposed military equipment policy is submitted to the governing body and is available on the department website at least 30 days prior to any public hearing concerning the military equipment at issue (Government Code § 7071). The military equipment policy must be approved by the governing body prior to engaging in any of the following (Government Code § 7071):
Requesting military equipment made available pursuant to 10 USC § 2576a.
Seeking funds for military equipment, including but not limited to applying for a grant, soliciting or accepting private, local, state, or federal funds, in-kind donations, or other donations or transfers.
Acquiring military equipment either permanently or temporarily, including by borrowing or leasing.
Collaborating with another law enforcement agency in the deployment or other use of military equipment within the jurisdiction of this department.
Using any new or existing military equipment for a purpose, in a manner, or by a person not previously approved by the governing body.
Soliciting or responding to a proposal for, or entering into an agreement with, any other person or entity to seek funds for, apply to receive, acquire, use, or collaborate in the use of military equipment.
Acquiring military equipment through any means not provided above. 708.4 USE IN EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
In exigent circumstances and with the approval of the Chief of Police or his/her designee, the Police Department may acquire, borrow and/or use Military Equipment that is not included in the Military Equipment Use Policy.
If the Police Department acquires, borrows, and/or uses Military Equipment in exigent circumstances, in accordance with this section, it must take all of the following actions:
Provide written notice of that acquisition or use to the City Council within 30 days following the commencement of such Exigent Circumstance, unless such information is confidential or privileged under local, state or federal law.
If it is anticipated that the use will continue beyond the Exigent Circumstance, submit a proposed amended Military Equipment Use Policy to the City Council within 90 days following the borrowing, acquisition and/or use, and receive approval, as applicable, from the City Council.
Include the Military Equipment in the Police Department’s next annual Military Equipment Report.
COORDINATION WITH OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Military equipment should not be used by any other law enforcement agency or member in this jurisdiction unless the military equipment is approved for use in accordance with this policy.
ANNUAL REPORT
Upon approval of a military equipment policy, the Chief of Police or the authorized designee should submit a military equipment report to the governing body for each type of military equipment approved within one year of approval, and annually thereafter for as long as the military equipment is available for use (Government Code § 7072).
The Chief of Police or the authorized designee should also make each annual military equipment report publicly available on the department website for as long as the military equipment is available for use. The report shall include all information required by Government Code § 7072 for the preceding calendar year for each type of military equipment in department inventory.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Within 30 days of submitting and publicly releasing the annual report, the Department shall hold at least one well-publicized and conveniently located community engagement meeting, at which the Department should discuss the report and respond to public questions regarding the funding, acquisition, or use of military equipment.
Ordinance No. 4316
May 16, 2022
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Pomona PD CA Policy Manual
Military Equipment
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