Tag: AB 481

City Council gives the nod to more military equipment

Council remains divided on purchases by Chico PD
by Yucheng Tang | Posted April 16, 2025

photo by Yucheng Tang
Chico’s Margaret Swick spoke at the April 15 City Council meeting, suggesting that the money allocated for military equipment could go elsewhere.

The City Council voted 4–3 to approve the Chico Police Department’s proposed purchase of more than half a million dollars in additional military equipment.

The acquisitions will include three drones, four remote-controlled cars, a launcher that can fire projectiles, two sniper rifles to replace two old ones, 15 police patrol rifles, and three incident command vehicles that can provide a mobile on-site platform for command, control and communications during major incidents. read more

Police don’t need military-grade weapons

"Chico is not in a war zone"
by George Gold | Posted April 1, 2022

photo courtesy of George Gold

In 1987, there was a bank robbery in North Hollywood, California. I remember it because I used to live in North Hollywood. I remember it because the bank robbers were heavily armed, were dressed in body armor, and the police on the scene were, as they say, out gunned. As the shootout went on for some time, some of the cops on scene actually went to nearby gun stores to obtain some more powerful weapons.

This event has been used by police departments across the country to arm themselves with ever more powerful weapons. This bank robbery was tragic and horrible. But there has never been another event like that since 1987; certainly never in Chico. And yet police departments have continued to arm themselves, and then we, as law abiding people, are treated as if we are aligned with the bank robbers of North Hollywood. read more