California School Police Hold Military Gear and Violate Transparency Laws
Public school police forces across California, including agencies in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Twin Rivers, have quietly acquired military-grade equipment such as semiautomatic rifles and smoke grenades, while multiple districts have repeatedly failed to disclose these inventories to the public as mandated by a state transparency law.
The quiet accumulation of tactical gear in primary and secondary schools dates back decades. Investigations by CalMatters and reporting distributed by The Associated Press reveal a persistent oversight gap in how campus law enforcement manages arsenals designed for battlefield operations. While federal programs like the Pentagon’s surplus initiative faced intense public scrutiny—notably prompting the Los Angeles School Police Department to return armored vehicles and assault rifles following intense backlash in 2016—local departments have continued purchasing their own specialized weaponry independently.
Out of 21 public school police forces operating across California, nine have independently acquired military-grade hardware. This gear includes semiautomatic rifles, less-lethal ammunition launchers, and chemical deterrents like smoke grenades. Under state definitions, less-lethal devices are engineered to incapacitate or stun individuals without causing fatalities. However, investigative findings and historical precedent indicate that misuse or close-range deployment of these tools has previously resulted in severe injuries and fatalities.
The Transparency Failure and Assembly Bill 481 Compliance
Passed under Assembly Bill 481 and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, state regulations have required all local law enforcement agencies—including school police—to publicly report their military equipment inventories annually since January 2022. The mandates require agencies to detail acquisition costs, maintenance expenses, explicit usage policies, and planned purchases, followed by mandatory public forums where local communities can question the acquisitions.
Despite these clear statutory requirements, compliance has been inconsistent. Five school police departments failed to publish their required inventories on schedule. Departments in the San Diego Unified School District and the Montebello Unified School District only released their updated records after direct inquiries from journalists. Meanwhile, police forces within the Twin Rivers Unified School District and the Santa Ana Unified School District published transparency reports for the first time in 2026, despite housing the tactical equipment for years.
Other districts exhibited similar resistance. According to CalMatters and Associated Press findings, agencies representing Apple Valley, Fontana, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego delayed or initially denied possessing military-grade equipment when first questioned by reporters, only to alter their official stances once pressed to verify existing departmental policies.
Inventory Discrepancies Across Major Districts
The scale of these arsenals varies significantly by district. In Los Angeles, district spokesperson Christy Hagen confirmed that the school police department maintains an inventory of 112 semiautomatic rifles and 104 pellet-firing shotguns. Hagen did not respond to inquiries regarding whether the department intends to bring its reporting fully in compliance with the transparency statute.
“This equipment is used only in limited, high-risk situations where it is necessary to help protect students, staff, community members and officers,” Hagen stated via email to CalMatters, adding that the hardware is deployed to de-escalate dangerous incidents and reduce risks during critical situations.
Proponents of arming campus officers argue that high-powered rifles and tactical tools give personnel necessary capabilities to address violent intruders and active threat scenarios. In April, officers within the Twin Rivers school police department—operating within Sacramento County—deployed military-grade patrol rifles while responding to a high school shooting located outside of their direct district boundaries, an incident that left a teenage victim dead. At the time of that response, records confirmed the department lacked an established institutional policy regulating the use of military-grade gear.
Community Division Over Militarized Campuses
The presence of battlefield-style equipment in educational environments has sharply polarized parents, educators, and local stakeholders. During a Twin Rivers Unified School District board meeting held in May, community members voiced starkly conflicting views on the armed posture of campus police. Six participants, including concerned teachers and parents, argued against maintaining the equipment, pointing to risks of escalation and the erosion of a safe educational atmosphere. Conversely, eight attendees supported keeping the arsenal available to law enforcement personnel, citing modern security threats.
As state oversight agencies continue to review compliance filings, the ongoing tension between campus safety measures and public accountability remains a central challenge for California school districts.