Concord Police To Host Annual Meeting About Drones, Military Equipment

CONCORD, CA — The Concord Police Department is hosting a community meeting Wednesday to discuss its acquisition and use of military equipment.

Under Assembly Bill 481, governing bodies such as the Concord City Council can approve the purchase of such equipment only if it determines the military equipment meets the standards specified within the governing body's ordinance.

The Concord City Council's ordinance calls for the police department to prepare an annual report on the use of each type of military equipment approved under the city's policy over the last year.

The City Council then determines whether the department's use of the equipment complied with its policy, and whether to continue the policy or take action to modify or repeal the ordinance.

The meeting will be held in person and starts at 5 p.m. in the community room of the Concord Police Department, 1350 Galindo St.

"We will be there to answer your questions, show some of the equipment that falls under this law, and explain how it is used to make our community safer for everyone," police said.

Military equipment currently in the concord police department's inventory includes a SWAT robot, drones, an armored rescue vehicle, a crisis negotiation van and a tactical dispatch van; a kinetic breaching tool to open fortified or barricaded doors; a breaching shotgun used to open deadbolts, locks, and doors hinges; carbine M-4 AR-15 rifles to defeat soft body armor; long sniper-style rifles; pistol-caliber carbines for confined spaces; noise flash diversionary devices for temporarily diverting the attention of a subject; chemical agents; pepper-ball launchers and projectiles for non-compliant or actively aggressive persons or animals at a distance; kinetic impact launchers for bean-bag rounds; kinetic impact munitions such as rubber and sponge batons to reduce the potential for violent confrontations; and long-range hand-held acoustic devices for communicating with barricaded persons who can't be reached with a PA.

"In some instances, the possession and use of military equipment may cause questions
and/or concerns for members of the community," the Concord Police Department states in its report. "It is vitally important that community members’ questions and/or complaints regarding the Concord Police Department’s possession and use of military equipment are addressed."

The department also states that it is committed to full and fair investigations of community
complaints and has sound internal procedures for thorough and impartial investigations of community complaints.

"Resolving complaints in a fair, impartial, and expeditious manner will ensure the consistent, high level of integrity and efficiency maintained by the Department," police state in the report.

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This marks the third annual report since the city adopted the military equipment policy and the Concord Police Department has yet to receive any complaints or conduct any internal investigations related to its use of military equipment, the report states.

The 38-page report prepared for the March 27 meeting details the number of times the equipment has been used. The unmanned aerial vehicles — UAVS or drones — have, by far, been the most used equipment.

The Crisis Response Unit — comprised of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) — used several pieces of the department's military equipment during five high-risk incidents in 2023 related to investigations for armed robberies, drive-by shooting/attempted murder, and domestic violence/attempted murder.

The police department's 12 drones were operated by 13 officers with specialized training. The department used drones for overhead monitoring during SWAT operations, warrant services, and hundreds of searches for suspects and missing persons in Concord and the neighboring cities of Pleasant Hill, Oakley, Walnut Creek and Clayton.

Read the 2024 annual report below (click within the right-hand bar to scroll within the pdf document).

The report also lists the equipment the department is planning to purchase or has already ordered.

The department ordered a TAG Ford T350 Armored Rescue Van on March 8, 2023, to replace the 1993 Ford E350 currently in inventory that has reached the end of its life. For $180,535, the new van has no offensive capabilities and is a standard commercial Ford T350 with the addition of ballistic armor and transparent ballistic glass.

On July 1, 2023, the department ordered a $21,999 interior search drone with 3D mapping technology and an extended battery life. The Lemur2 can also stream footage recorded by the unit to multiple cell phones and has enhanced obstacle awareness. Its interior 3D mapping technology gives officers the ability to create a map or plan of a structure before entering it or when attempting to locate persons.

The department plans to order 13 more drones; two at $11,630 apiece, 10 at $3,182 apiece and one for $8,780.

"The equipment, resources, and training outlined in this report allow Concord Police Officers to better serve and protect our community, enhance the safety of officers, and bring critical incidents to a safe resolution," the department states.