The Fresno City Council approved a report on the police department’s usage of military equipment last week, a state requirement to ensure authorities use armored vehicles, drones, and assault weapons in accordance with the law.

Some police reform advocates, however, say the police report falls short, leaving out important information such as how equipment was used and where. It also comes as the city has gone without an independent police auditor for nine months, according to Fresnoland.

Wednesday, March 25, marked the first time the Fresno Police Department had hosted a dedicated public meeting about how it uses its military equipment since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 481 into law in 2022.

Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto told councilmembers last Thursday that the department plans to implement many of the more “reasonable” requests from the public. She told GV Wire after the meeting that the department also needs to weigh whether disclosing information in some instances violates citizen privacy rights or jeopardizes ongoing investigations.

“I’m already having some ideas on some of the concerns about where the equipment is used and some of the ways we can address that without making it an onerous burden exceeding the requirements of the law,” Casto said at the meeting. “But we can certainly do more if that’s what the community is asking for.”

Arieana Castellanos, a mental health professional and member of the group Fresnans for the People’s Budget, told GV Wire she hoped the reforms Casto spoke about would be implemented by now. She said the city council rushed in approving the report.

“When it comes to making sure that police are accountable to following what’s in the law, then the community members and the elected officials are really the enforcement mechanisms to ensure that,” Castellanos said. “I think there has been a culture in city council and the police department of not being transparent and that has resulted in some fiscal blunders.”

Councilmember Richardson Didn’t Get the Info He Wanted

Police held the community meeting the day before the council meeting to approve the report.

Councilmember Nick Richardson told GV Wire that he expected the police department to give councilmembers a report on the public meeting — what people wanted, how police would forward, ahead of the council hearing.

“We were supposed to be presented a report or given some digest of the public comment meeting beforehand and we weren’t provided that so right there, that was reason enough for me to vote ‘no,’ ” Richardson said.

He said he mistakenly voted to approve the report because he was distracted. Richardson said he then went to City Attorney Andrew Janz about amending his vote but wasn’t allowed. Councilmembers approved the report 7-0.

In previous years, the report has been on the council’s consent agenda, meaning that if a councilmember did not choose to discuss it, it would have been approved along with the city’s regular business.

After hearing complaints from the public, Casto told councilmembers they chose to meet separately. GV Wire did not receive notice of the meeting but heard from multiple sources that about 20 to 40 people attended.

Deputy Chief Burke Farrah told councilmembers that they heard complaints about noticing and more details about reporting that police will consider adding in future reports. He also said that residents volunteered to help with publicizing the department’s required public meeting.

“What we heard from our community was that while some of them had philosophical concerns about military equipment in general, we didn’t hear a lot of specifics,” Farrah said.

Report Details How Often Equipment Used, Not Much Else

The report details how many times the department’s robots, drones, armored vehicles, command centers, rifles, and less-than-lethal weaponry were used and how much they cost in 2025.

The bomb defusal robot, at an initial cost of $350,000 with a $4,000 annual maintenance cost, was used once in 2025.

Two of the department’s armored rescue vehicles were used 16 times, the report states. The department’s various drones were used 293 times in 2025. And the SWAT truck got called into service 14 times.

The two kinds of 40 mm launchers were together used 26 times, and less-than-lethal beanbag shotguns — which cost $170,000 for 315 — were used five times. Rifles were used twice and flash bangs were used three times.

Farrah likened it to having a fire extinguisher in his house, saying he’d rather have it and not need it.

“I have a fire extinguisher in my home and I didn’t use it last year,” Farrah said.

Castellanos, however, said the report didn’t go far enough. She wanted to see details that other police departments provide.

“There’s a summary of how the equipment is authorized to be used, right? How it could potentially be used, but not how it was actually used,” Castellanos said. “Was it used for civil unrest? Was it used for suspect apprehension? Was it used because there’s a barricaded individual? What are the circumstances?”

State Legal Analysis Requires Details on Where Equipment Is Used. Police Disagree

The Long Beach Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Office detail whether equipment gets used for surveillance, apprehension, crowd control, or search and rescue.

The definition of “use” can also be vague. Explicitly, AB 481 requires “a summary of how the military equipment was used and the purpose of its use.”

Long Beach police outline use and deployment (equipment brought out but not fired). Additionally, it outlines how much money was spent on training.

Analysis from the Assembly Committee on Local Government says the report must also detail where equipment is used, breaking it down by census tract.  Farrah, however, said that information is not legally required.

“There’s a bit of reliance on technicalities to rubber stamp this and I think that’s what people are really disappointed about,” Castellanos said.

Casto told GV Wire the department would consider adding that to a future report but it’s not a legal requirement. She would first have to consider whether that information would jeopardize individual privacy or ongoing investigations.

She said during the meeting that police have a list of equipment and resources they use before resorting to military equipment. That could include more commonplace equipment or tactics such as crisis negotiation.

When the equipment gets used, it’s to save lives, Casto said.

“It’s not comfortable to have to hear people don’t approve of the military equipment, what it costs to maintain or purchase. But I know there’s a very large majority of people out there who would be even more angry at us if they lost a loved one in a tragic incident where we didn’t have it,” Casto said.

City Needs to Replace Police Auditor: Richardson

Separately, the city of Fresno has also not had an independent police auditor since John Gliatta retired in August. The city’s Office of Independent Review investigates complaints from the public about bias, excessive force, and conduct unbecoming of a police officer. The office is supposed to publish quarterly reports about its findings.

A report has not been published since the second quarter of 2025.

“They will continue to accept complaints that are forwarded to the department,” a city email to GV Wire stated.

A city spokesperson told GV Wire on Monday that the city needed to repost the position. That was because the city’s top candidate rejected the offer.

Richardson said the position needs to be filled.

“I think we’re being a little slow on the uptake there,” Richardson said. “We absolutely should have filled that position by now.”