CHICO — Police Chief Billy Aldridge fielded public inquiries about the department’s use of military-grade equipment and other law enforcement matters during an engagement meeting Thursday night in Chico City Council Chambers.
Members of the Police Community Advisory Board joined two-dozen fellow Chicoans. City Clerk Debbie Presson and Police Capt. Greg Keeney sorted question cards for the session mandated under state law. It was scheduled for an hour, though Aldridge took an additional 20 minutes to get to every question and engage in a discussion of the term de-escalation.
“The only thing I ask (for a question) is it’s relevant to the topic tonight,” Aldridge prefaced, adding: “It’s pretty much the same presentation as last year with a few updates.”
Assembly Bill 481 requires police agencies to report annually on its use of military equipment and associated policies. The City Council will review and authorize the report Tuesday; councilors received it with the agenda released earlier Thursday, and if the engagement meeting prompts a change, Aldridge promised to revise and resubmit.
“This is being held before (the) council (meets) because this is a request from last year,” he explained, contrasting with 2023 session that followed council approval. “It hurts nothing to allow this to occur before the council meeting.”
The report appears on a dedicated AB 481 webpage on the city’s website (chico.ca.us).
Aldridge went over the inventory of equipment before taking questions. New for this year are a small drone; robots for SWAT (one with a hot gas delivery system he characterized as safer than any before, another with a door-open device in lieu of a breaching shotgun); a Bearcat armored vehicle without a gun in the turret; loud speakers; and less-lethal arms to replace shotguns.
The equipment classified as military grade under AB 481 cost $180,679 — less than a half-percent of the department’s 2023-24 budget — plus $9,700 for training by outside agencies. By comparison, personnel account for $30.1 million, and other operating costs are $6.3 million.
“A lot of the equipment and tactics we use with the equip do de-escalate situations,” Aldridge said, and reduce the number of officer-involved shootings.
For the coming fiscal year, “we plan to ask for nothing new,” he said, beyond standard costs for maintenance, replacement and ammunition. In summation, he said, “We met the requirements of the law and will continue to meet requirements of the law.”
Q&A
After a 40-minute recap of the report, Aldridge took questions, calling on Lt. Joel Schmid and Lt. Omar Peña for more details.
Inquiries ranged from micro (such as the number of beanbags and rifles inventoried) to macro (situations for specific armaments, including drone deployments logged on the department website). He invited further questions by email — [email protected] — or to PCAB representatives.
“Of course, we’re always open to suggestions on policy,” Aldridge said, with the caveat that some policies stem from legal requirements.
One audience member asked the reason Chico is equipped to this extent.
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“We can’t just think locally — we need to think globally of what we might be faced with,” Aldridge responded. “We try to have contingencies for anything that may happen. We want to have the tools available, even if we don’t have to use it.
“We would hope you’d want your law enforcement to have the upper hand in critical situations,” he continued, adding: “While it looks like we have this build-out of our arsenal, it’s the standard in law enforcement.”
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