Oakland Cops Somehow Want $2 Million for Assault Rifles, Drones and Armored Vehicles

Oakland’s Police Department (OPD) wants new militarized equipment that could cost over $2 million, according to a recently released report and comments made at a recent meeting. The police department wants to more than double its number of drones and armored vehicles, and significantly increase its arsenal of semi-automatic assault rifles.

The possible increase in OPD’s arsenal, at a time of both budget crisis and decreasing crime, is concerning watchdogs.

“When a department seeks to increase their inventory you want to know why,” John Lindsay-Poland, an Oakland-based writer and organizer who works with the American Friends Service Committee to monitor military equipment usage across the state, told Bay Area Current. "It doesn’t make sense unless they want to be a more militarized force.”

OPD’s data show that in 2024, reported violent crime was about 6% lower than between 2020 and 2023, homicides were down about 30%, and the total reported crimes were down about 10%. More recent data show that reported crimes have continued to decrease. Reported crime, both violent and non-violent, is down about 30% through June 15 of this year, when compared to the same period last year.

OPD’s request for new equipment is listed in its Annual Military Equipment Report, required by state law AB 481. Oakland’s City Council will ultimately determine if OPD gets the new equipment, likely at a City Council vote later this year.

75 New Military Assault Rifles for $425,000

OPD has 154 assault rifles and wants 75 more, according to the report. OPD projects that each of these rifles will cost about $5,700, over $425,000 total.

To fulfill its legal requirements under AB 481, OPD hosted a community engagement meeting about their militarized equipment at the 81st Avenue Branch library on July 16. About two dozen community members came. During the meeting, Lieutenant Omar Daza-Quiroz, Lieutenant Eriberto Perez-Angeles, and Sergeant Patrick Gonzales all insisted the department still needs the rifles.

Daza-Quiroz acknowledged that crime is down, but said it’s still high, so continuing to obtain the weapons is necessary. Perez-Angeles said the department wants to replace rifles nearing the end of their life expectancy. OPD’s current report makes no mention of decommissioning or retiring any of its current stock of rifles. Gonzales said he is “extremely proud of our program,” which requires a year on the force and two weeks of classes in order to use the assault rifles.

Oakland resident Dan Bleskan, who attended the military equipment meeting, told Bay Area Current he’s against OPD officers having the new rifles and thinks training doesn’t and hasn’t helped them use weapons responsibly. 

“This is always a line with them that everything gets solved with training and suddenly that fixes everything, and they’re going to use their rifles in responsible ways,” Bleskan said. “But I think it just gives them an excuse to have these things when there’s a history of them using weapons in very irresponsible lethal ways.”

Daza-Quiroz, Perez-Angeles, and Gonzales — the three officers advocating for new assault rifles — have all shot and killed people while on duty. Daza-Quiroz and Perez-Angeles killed 37-year-old barber Derrick Jones, who had fled police and was unarmed, in 2010.

Gonzales has killed two people on duty, including 20-year-old Gary King Jr. in 2007, for which the city paid a $1.5 million settlement. He also shot and paralyzed Ameir Rollins in 2006, who was 17 at the time.

Two New Armored SUVs, Two New Tank-Like BearCats, for $1.3 million

The most expensive items OPD is asking for are armored vehicles. The report shows OPD wants two new armored SUVs. Comments at the meeting show the department is also seeking two new BearCats, which are larger than the SUVs.

Gonzales said the department would decommission their current 20-year-old BearCat should they get new BearCats. The department, which currently has two armored vehicles, wants five in total.

OPD estimates the armored SUVs will cost $250,000 each. BearCat costs are not listed in the report, but the newest can cost as much as $434,340 each. In total these vehicles could cost over $1.3 million.

BearCat vehicles’ large box-like structure appears highly militarized, and they’re used by military police in Brazil and Serbia, along with the US Army. Oakland resident Mitra Zarinebaf, who attended the meeting, said she is against OPD owning BearCats, as she said their primary purpose is to intimidate the community.

“To stop crime you don’t need a militarized vehicle,” Zarinebaf said. “The police already have so many different forms of defense. I feel like this is just to build fearmongering and warmongering into the city.”

Perez-Angeles described the BearCat as “just a piece of armor we use that is essential to us,” and that it is advantageous over other armored SUVs because it fits at least 10 people and has room for a medical gurney, which the department has used in the past.

Five OPD officers used the BearCat for cover when they shot and killed Joshua Pawlik, a homeless man who was awakening from sleep with a gun in his hand, in 2018. The city settled a wrongful death suit by paying $1.4 million to Pawlik’s mother.

19 New Drones Spark Surveillance Concerns 

OPD’s report shows that it has 13 drones and wants 19 more, which it projects will cost about $60,000. The department deployed drones 145 times last year for surveillance.

An OPD usage log shows drones were generally used last year to locate suspects of felonies, such as homicide and assault suspects. In a few instances though, drones were used when no serious crime was suspected to have occurred. The department used them twice to monitor sideshows during Hispanic Heritage Weekend.

Brian Hofer, the chair of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission, said any increased use of surveillance is risky with Trump targeting sanctuary cities like Oakland. OPD’s policy is not to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but Hofer worries that Trump could get data from OPD drones, and use it against protestors and undocumented people.

“All our data is Trump’s data now,” Hofer said. “He can get it. And we could be building systems that will hang us out to dry.”

Hofer said that even if the department doesn’t directly share drone data with ICE, ICE could obtain it through a third party. OPD collaborated with the US Marshals at least three times last year, according to its usage log. The US Marshals have recently worked with ICE to carry out deportations.

In addition to more drones, rifles and armored vehicles, OPD is seeking more equipment, including tear gas, pepper spray, explosive breaching equipment, robots, and projectiles, which it projects will cost over $230,000.

City Budget Crisis Hasn’t Stopped OPDs Military Ambitions

Oakland has been facing a budget crunch that has caused the city to slash dozens of jobs. Bleskan said he feels OPD’s ask for over $2 million in equipment is inappropriate.

Police get more funding than any other city department in Oakland. Over the last decade, OPD has consistently overspent its yearly overtime budget by tens of millions of dollars.

“They refuse to acknowledge how much of the pie they take,” Bleskan said. “Asking for more while everything is getting gutted seems really contrary to the public good.”

It’s possible OPD could not get the equipment they seek. Oakland’s City Council has the power to deny them the equipment. Lindsay-Poland said that while law enforcement agencies in California generally get the military equipment they request, occasionally push back from activists, media, or elected officials has worked to stop them. For example, both Oakland and San Francisco Police Departments had initially requested armed robots in 2022, but neither department got them.

“Communities, elected officials, activists and oversight bodies can respond,” Lindsay-Poland said. “People can push back, and sometimes the law enforcement agencies respond to that pressure, or are forced to.”