The Abridged version
- The largest purchases include a $500,000 armored vehicle and a $449,000 robotic dog unit.
- Military equipment was deployed 718 times in 2024, and deployments happened most frequently in parts of South Sacramento.
- The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office says the equipment will be used in “high-risk” incidents like human trafficking and organized retail theft.
The Sacramento Board of Supervisors on Tuesday greenlit the purchase of roughly $1 million in new military equipment for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
The board voted 4-0 in favor of the new equipment. Supervisor Patrick Kennedy was absent.
“I long for a world where these tools are not needed, but I approve their purchase,” said Supervisor Pat Hume.
The bulk of the costs include a request for a $500,000 Bearcat armored vehicle and a $449,000 robotic dog, the “SPOT Robot” from Boston Dynamics.
The Sheriff’s Office now has approval to add 27 more drones to its current fleet of 56 drones. The office asked to add more replacement drones as they often “get swatted down,” said Lt. James Petrinovich of the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office.
Petrinovich began his presentation to the board with a highly-edited video with graphics and music that showed the armored vehicle in action.
“These tools are critical in helping to resolve high-risk critical incidents and complete complex investigations such as human trafficking and organized retail theft,” Petrinovich said in the video.
Petrinovich said that deputies “routinely” used the Bearcat to provide cover from gunfire, and that the current vehicle, purchased in 2008, is “running on fumes.”
Video shown to the Sacramento Board of Supervisor’s shows body camera footage of deputies using the Bearcat armored vehicle (Sacramento County’s Sheriff’s Office)
The Sheriff’s Office is seeking the robotic dog to help bomb squad officers handle explosives remotely. The robot can be used to help surveillance drones enter indoor areas by opening doors, Petrinovich said.
The SPOT Robot could also be deployed by SWAT teams by “conducting surveillance, transporting supplies and locating victims or suspects,” according to a staff report on the military equipment request.
Several residents spoke at the meeting and criticized the Sheriff’s Office for not allowing enough opportunity for public input. Members of the county’s Sheriff Community Review Commission had several questions about deployment of the weapons when it held a hearing on the military equipment earlier this year.
“There was a specific question asked about the disproportionate use in Black and brown communities and what would the sheriff do to reduce those disparities … the response was nothing,” said Norma Nelson, with the Black American Political Association of California, Sacramento Chapter.
Sacramento County Counsel Lisa Travis said she did not have concerns with the county’s compliance with a state law, Assembly Bill 481, that requires community engagement and public disclosures regarding military equipment.
The board held an initial hearing on the expanded military equipment budget in June, but delayed their vote until more complete budget projections were available for the county.
At the time, the Sheriff’s Office noted that military equipment had been deployed 718 times over the course of 2024. ZIP codes with the most deployments were in South Sacramento neighborhoods of Valley Hi / North Laguna, Lemon Hill and Florin.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.