09 Jan Richmond Wants Police to Further Document Use of Military Weapons; RPD Says It Doesn’t Have the Time

“We have a situation in this country where we’re getting more and more militarized culture,” said Richmond City Council member Gayle McLaughlin, center, between Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez and Mayor Eduardo Martinez. The newly elected members, including the retiring McLaughlin’s replacement, will be sworn in next week. (Screenshot by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

The Richmond City Council moved forward with changes at its Tuesday meeting that it hopes will increase the transparency of the police department’s use of military equipment.

The changes, which came as part of the review of the annual military equipment use report from the Richmond Police Department, asks that RPD document with more detail the display and deployment of military weapons beginning with the 2025 report. (When a firearm is pointed at someone but not used to shoot, for example, that is a display.)

“We have a situation in this country where we’re getting more and more militarized culture,” said council member Gayle McLaughlin, noting her comment wasn’t “directed at RPD.”

“It’s the whole culture,” she said. “We don’t want our whole culture to become militarized.”

State law requires police departments to track their use of military equipment.

With the change to Richmond’s Military Equipment Use Policy, a “use” would include any display, deployment or discharge of a military weapon. The council previously called for this change, among others, at its May 7 meeting.

“It’s not that it can’t happen,” RPD Chief Bisa French said, “but what it does mean is that officers will take the time to write the report every time the rifle is displayed or taken out, and that does have an impact on the community.”

In a written report to the council, the chief took issue with the addition of “display,” in particular, because it “requires documenting every instance where equipment is visible.”

Each report, French said, takes around 30 minutes to an hour. Most instances where a military weapon is deployed or taken out also involve multiple officers.

“That’s time away from that officer being on their beat,” she said. “That’s what my concern is.”

Some residents showed up in support of the changes, asking for increased clarity on the definitions of deployment, display and discharge.

“We should know what officer used it, what the case was,” said resident Rosie Rendon, especially pointing to the use of drones. “It’s extremely concerning having an entity or group of people with that much power.”

Council members voted 5-2 to accept the report with the future reporting changes, with Doria Robinson and Cesar Zepeda abstaining.

Council pay raise

In a unanimous vote, the Richmond City Council made itself the highest-paid elected body in Contra Costa County by approving an 80% raise.

The increase, which sets the monthly pay for council members at $2,524.50 and the mayor’s at $6,975, is a yearly 5% accumulation since the last raise in 2007.

It’s a result of California Senate Bill 329, which allows city councils to increase their pay by as much as 5% since their last pay raise to account for inflation and the cost of living. Councils in San Pablo and Antioch both increased their pay thanks to the legislation, though only Richmond’s decision was unanimous of the three.

For Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez, the raise was, “more than anything else, an equity issue.”

“If we want people who are connected to the community, who are close to the pain, who understands the things that the community needs and deserves,” said Jimenez, “then let’s make sure these people are being paid well, so they can be here and do their job and be successful.”

Other council members echoed Jimenez’s comments, sharing that the role was full-time for them.

“It is so much more work than meets the eye,” said Robinson. “There is a multitude of things.”

Robinson’s days run from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m and Zepeda’s up to midnight.

But not every resident was happy with the increase.

“Giving yourself a hefty raise while doing less work?” said Terri Hinte, referring to a decrease in meeting frequency. “Read the room.”

Council members will still have to vote on a second reading of the pay increase at a future meeting.

Sanctuary City policy exception, Native American tribes recognition resolution withdrawn

The Richmond Police Department’s request to excuse a software application from the Sanctuary City policy was withdrawn from Tuesday night’s City Council meeting after some residents raised concerns with its links to ICE.

LexisNexis recently bought three programs used by RPD for data collection — software for analyzing phone data, collision reports and an online reporting system for insurance purposes — but said they could not comply with the policy because ICE is one of its customers.

“It is anticipated that the new administration will implement extreme anti-immigrant policies and tactics,” the Safe Return Project wrote as one of its talking points ahead of the meeting. “This is the worst possible time for the City to start carving out exceptions to the Sanctuary City policy.”

The Sanctuary City policy prohibits any Richmond employee, officer, board, commission or other city entity from entering into a contract — new, amended or extended — with “any Person or Entity that provides ICE with any ‘Data Broker’ or ‘Extreme Vetting’ services” unless council grants an exception.

French said in the corresponding staff report that the three programs, Accurint TraX, Coplogic and Crossroads, have “drastically reduced staff time and effort” and have no known alternatives “viable for use by RPD.”

The programs are “helpful for a department struggling with hiring enough staff to maintain
minimum staffing levels,” she further wrote.

Council member Soheila Bana last month shared a letter French wrote, saying reduced staffing impacted the department, including no longer having a standalone traffic unit or a regulatory unit.

But opponents to the exception, including the Safe Return Project and Reimagine Richmond, say it is not “a harmless technicality.”

“For instance,” one of the Safe Return Project’s points reads, “the cell phone data that the Department now inputs into Accurint TraX might end up in the hands of ICE agents, potentially leading to deportation or other negative consequences for Richmond residents.”

It was unclear if the policy exception would come back at a later date for a vote.

Council members also withdrew a resolution indefinitely that would have urged federal officials to recognize several Native American tribes in the Bay Area.

McLaughlin, who sponsored the resolution alongside co-sponsors Jimenez and Robinson, said it sought to “rectify (an) injustice” the tribes face by not being recognized.

The resolution would have urged federal officials, including Congress and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to immediately recognize the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, the Muwekma tribe and the Ohlone Tribe.

Richmond would have been the first to move forward with its support for the Muwekma in its path to federal recognition after pressure from South Bay lawmakers killed a resolution of support in San Jose last August.

The next Richmond City Council meeting, where newly elected council members will take over for outgoing council members Melvin Willis and McLaughlin, is Jan. 14.