Deep Dive into AB 481 — The Police De-Militarization Bill
At many of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, police in Portland, OR, and other areas fired tear gas from military grenade launchers and shot baton rounds (often called “rubber bullets”) from armored vehicles at unarmed, mostly peaceful people. Many of the police forces that violently suppressed the protests were also equipped with cuffs, batons, shields, and gas masks obtained from the Pentagon.
The Department of Defense (DOD) makes this surplus military gear available to law enforcement agencies through two programs. Launched in the 1990s, the 1033 program provides military hardware at no cost, without any requirement for public oversight. The 1122 program, sponsored by the DOD and the Department of Homeland Security, allows state and local governments to obtain, at no cost or a discounted price, military hardware to support counter-drug, homeland security, and emergency response efforts.
The 1033 program has funnelled more than $5 billion in military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, with Bay Area agencies receiving equipment worth $11 million in the last decade alone. While the San Francisco Police Department has obtained only night-vision goggles and bomb disposal equipment, South San Francisco has acquired M16 assault rifles and a military tactical vehicle. Since the federal government requires minimal or no reporting to the public on these transfers of equipment, the Institute for Transparent Policing has compiled date and provides a visual tracker that allows anyone to search by state or ZIP code to find a list of military equipment obtained by their local law enforcement agencies under the 1033 program.
In 2014, when protesters demanded justice after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, they were met with excessive force on the part of police agencies using military vehicles and equipment. Recognizing the threat to civil rights, President Obama curtailed the 1033 program, prohibiting the transfer of tracked armored vehicles, grenade launchers, and bayonets. (Even the Pentagon has said it does not understand why police officers would require bayonets.) In his first year in office, Trump rescinded these restrictions.
The dangers of a militarized police force are borne out by a 2018 study that found a clear correlation between departments that had accepted more surplus military gear and those with a high rate of using deadly force. An analysis of data from the Defense Logistics Agency showed that the procurement of military equipment had no effect on local crime or public safety measures. Recent reports by watchdog agencies and outside investigators found that heavily militarized responses to Black Lives Matter protesters last summer escalated violence instead of taming it. With little public input, local law enforcement agencies are using our tax dollars to obtain equipment that does more to support a warrior mentality among police officers than it does to foster public safety.
In 2018, AB 3131 was introduced in the California State Assembly in 2018 in order to provide public oversight and checks on militarized police forces. Indivisible SF supported the bill, and the legislature just barely passed a version that had been scaled back because of law-enforcement opposition. The bill was vetoed by then-Governor Jerry Brown, who called it an “unnecessary bureaucratic hurdle.” Now a revived version of this bill has been introduced in the current session of the California State legislature. AB 481 would require a state or local law enforcement agency to obtain approval from the appropriate governing body for the purchase of military equipment and to submit a use policy for approval.
Our own Assemblymember David Chiu (AD17), one of the co-authors of the bill, notes that the bill does not prevent law-enforcement agencies from acquiring military equipment but stipulates that this be subject to a transparent process that guarantees community oversight. Police departments would also be required to report annually on where and how military equipment is used and the demographics of the people impacted. Chiu expects the bill to be considered by the Assembly’s Policy Committee in late March or April. If passed by the committee, the bill could be brought to a floor vote and on the governor’s desk by September.
We support this legislation as part of a larger movement to demand that law enforcement agencies be accountable to the communities they are supposed to serve.
Update: AB 481 was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in September of 2021, and went into effect in January of the following year.
Slate, “How the Trump Administration Undid Obama’s Response to Ferguson”:
New York Times, “Trump Reverses Restrictions on Military Hardware for Police”:
Washington Post, “Where Do Police Departments Get Their Military-Style Gear? Here’s What We Don’t Know”:
New York Times, “Police Mishandled Black Lives Matter Protests”: