Policing

On September 12, 2023 the Marin County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to renew its blanket authorization of the Marin County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) substantial arsenal of military equipment. Supervisors Moulton-Peters and Sackett opposed the authorization and urged the formation of a Board Subcommittee to explore the matter in greater depth.

The issue arises under AB 481 which--as of 2021--obligates local governing bodies like the Board of Supervisors to protect their communities from unnecessary police militarization. AB 481 requires the Board to review the Sheriff's military equipment annually under the following standard: "the governing body shall only approve [an item of military equipment] if it determines ... the equipment is necessary because there is no reasonable alternative that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety." Cal. Gov. Code Sec. 7071(d)(A).

The Sheriff provided no showing of necessity as to any of the hundreds of items classified as "military equipment" in its arsenal. These include AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifles that are standard issue to every deputy, machine guns, sniper rifles, an armored vehicle and battering ram, numerous surveillance drones, a tactical robot, flash-bang grenades, among many other things. This battlefield equipment greatly increases the peril to Marin's communities of color from the MCSO's well documented racial profiling. For more information, read MVFREE's Letter & Memorandum to the Board detailing what we believe are its clear violations of California's restrictions on military equipment.

Thank you to everyone who wrote or spoke to urge the Board to put a stop to the Sheriff's dangerous, unnecessary, and costly militarization. MVFREE will continue to pursue this issue. Stay tuned.

In September of 2022, the Marin County Board of Supervisors launched a process to develop a program of Sheriff’s oversight as authorized by AB 1185. The MVFREE Police Team supports the Working Group’s proposal subject to some clarifications and revisions that we believe are necessary to ensure that the Civil Oversight Commission (COC) and Inspector General (IG) have the resources and authority they need to ensure their effectiveness. You can read our full recommendations in this MVFREE Letter to the Board.