Orange Police Department refuses to turn over military equipment public records, now facing lawsuit

The American Friends Service Committee is suing the Orange Police Department for denying public access to their weaponry purchases. The lawsuit is an attempt to enforce the transparency of harm associated with militarized policing that have affected communities across the county. MADDIE MANTOOTH, Staff Photographer

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) filed a lawsuit April 6 against the Orange Police Department (OPD) for denying public access to their weaponry purchases, in order to increase the transparency of harm associated with militarized policing that often affect minority communities across the County.

AFSC, a Quaker organization whose overall purpose is to put an end to mass incarceration and police militarization, has filed Public Records Act requests to 131 law enforcement agencies in California, including the Orange Police Department. The organization hopes to gain access to these records in order to assess its contents and educate the public about military weaponry in the police force.

While 106 of the agencies offered up their weaponry records to AFSC — and 23 agencies didn’t respond to the request — only the Orange Police Department, had denied these document requests for security and anti-terrorism reasons. The lawsuit against the OPD was filed March 8 of this year, but wasn’t formally considered by the City of Orange until a month later.

“With this lawsuit, we hope that a judicial decision requiring the release of these records will encourage other law enforcement agencies to be fully transparent about the use of public dollars for militarized police equipment,” John Lindsay-Poland, the co-director of California Healing Justice in AFSC, told The Panther. “Helping to contribute to the community’s conversation about how best to achieve community safety is our primary goal.”

AFSC’s lawsuit is part of an effort by their organization to provide the public with information about militarized policing, and it is also fighting to put limits on the use of military weapons by police departments. AFSC will use this lawsuit to help provide ongoing support to California communities who are seeking transparency and demilitarization of their city’s police force.

The current lawsuit, known as “AFSC v. Orange (the City of Orange),” was filed by AFSC with the help of California State Attorney Sara Kohgadai in order to obtain the requested public records under the California Public Records Act (CPRA).

The CPRA enables all members of the public access to all forms of information that will help them to closely monitor the functioning of the government and other governmental entities — including police departments. All CPRA requests must be made publicly available to requestors, unless they fall under any of the CPRA’s statutory exemptions.

 “We previously made dozens of CPRA requests to law enforcement agencies across California to push for community awareness and advocacy in order to reduce the harm that militarized policing has caused in the state,” AFSC Ristad Fellow Jennifer Tu told The Panther. 

AFSC requested military weaponry purchase and deployment records, including documents for assault rifles, rocket launchers and armored vehicles from several police agencies and departments throughout California. While more than 100 agencies provided detailed invoices and incident reports related to militarized weaponry, the OPD denied the overall CPRA request.

“Security and ‘anti-terrorism’” were the main reasons as to why the OPD had denied the CPRA request last October 4, according to AFSC’s April 8 press release on the situation. But the OPD further stated that records were deliberative and contained personal identifying information that was exempt from being disclosed by a CPRA. 

Members of OPD were contacted but failed to comment on the ongoing lawsuit. Sergeant Phil McMullin, the public information officer for the department, instead spoke with The Panther specifically about the department’s current military equipment policy and the requirements of California assembly bill AB 481. 

“The Orange Police Department is committed to using the most up-to-date tools and equipment to safeguard the community of Orange and safely resolve volatile situations when they occur,” McMullin said. “Many items deemed “military equipment” by AB 481 are, in fact, employed by the Orange Police Department and other law enforcement agencies in Orange County and across the entire country.”  

Under the CPRA and AB 481 guidelines, AFSC filed for litigation with the belief that OPD did not have “applicable exemptions for the requested records,” according to the press release.

AB 481 requires police agencies to disclose what militarized equipment they have acquired and their use policies must be submitted by May 1. The law also goes further to state that each law enforcement agency in California must prepare an annual report, including the use of military equipment and any complaints or violations received regarding military equipment use for police agencies. 

The new law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year ruled that all police equipment dubbed “military grade” that has already been purchased and utilized must be disclosed to the public before any future purchases can be made.

“AB 481 is the first law of its kind, which will work to shine an unprecedented light on policing in cities and counties across California,” Tu said. “This law can also serve as a model for states across the country to adopt and use in their law enforcement agencies as well.”

According to the Voice of OC, local law enforcement officials in Orange County stated that this new law could negatively impact the police departments’ relationships with residents who don’t necessarily understand how this military equipment is being used. 

AB 481 provides transparency to residents in relation to police agencies utilizing “military-grade” equipment, but it lacks further context on what the equipment is and what each of them are used for, according to Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi in an interview with Voice of OC.

AFSC will continue to pursue their lawsuit and utilize the information that they’ve gathered so far through CPRA requests from other police agencies to compile together an extensive report titled “Equipped for War: Exposing Militarized Policing in California.” The organization’s primary goal of this report is to produce and provide advocacy tools for the community to continue to combat militarized police harm and violence in the future years.