CCPD presents comprehensive list of military-grade equipment

Culver City's new Standing City Council Police Subcommittee — comprised of councilmembers Bubba Fish and Albert Vera — considered an annual report on the Culver City Police Department's inventory of equipment deemed military-grade by the state of California at its first meeting on Tuesday, October 28.

The Equipment Report presented to the subcommittee is required by California Assembly Bill 481, enacted in 2022, and must be approved by the city council following this public meeting. While the report illustrates the CCPD's use of high-intensity, potentially harmful response equipment, Captain Andrew Bellante emphasized that the equipment defined as military-grade under AB 481 is not intended for exclusive military use.

"None of the equipment is obtained from the military, nor is it solely designed for military use," Bellante said at the Oct. 28 subcommittee meeting.

The report also includes a log of equipment use between September 12, 2024, and September 11, 2025. The equipment covered by the Bill is clearly defined and can be found in California Government Code Section 7070(c).

While CCPD does not plan to add new AB 481 equipment to its inventory, the Department still projects a minor fiscal burden related to it. Among the most financially taxing of these are the series of AR-15-style rifles used in felony traffic stops and when confronting armed or felony suspects.

The Department's rifle of choice is the M6IC Direct Impingement Rifle, made by Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) weapons manufacturer LWRC. Of the 125 weapons classified by CCPD as "carbine rifles," 99 of them are the M6IC-DI model, and a modified version for government use — the M6IC-G — makes up the second largest share of these guns with 15 total. CCPD also has four Colt M4s, a Colt M4 Commando, a Colt Sporter Lightweight, two Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifles, and a Double Star Star-15.  

The financial burden of these weapons comes from the cost of the NATO 5.56-caliber rounds they use. Culver City Police use bullets that are heavier than the standard issue M855A1, which are classified as 62-grain ammunition. Ammo weight is measured in grains, and the 5.56 ammunition CCPD purchases from manufacturer Hornady is 75-grain, allowing for increased penetration and accuracy when compared to the lighter variant.

Parts for the Colt M4, XM15-E2S, and Star 15 can be modified to accept smaller ammunition like the .17 WSM and the .204 Ruger, but the M6IC line uses proprietary parts, making it difficult to equip it to shoot anything but 5.56 NATO rounds.

Additionally, these smaller bullets are designed primarily for game hunting and target shooting. The Department also purchases .223 Remington 55-grain ammunition — nearly equivalent in size and mostly interchangeable with the 5.56 — to use as its secondary training ammo, primarily for indoor shooting.

These weapons were used in six instances within the one-year time frame that this report was commissioned for, with two rifles used in two of those incidents. However, Bellante noted during the presentation that the weapons were never fired and were only "directed" during police operations.

Most logged uses of these types of equipment in Culver City have occurred while confronting high-risk criminals, but the single use-of-force complaint CCPD received was related to activity at protests over federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in June.

That claim did not proceed because the claimant refused to speak with CCPD investigators, and an internal review by the Department's Professional Standards Unit found no evidence that the alleged incident occurred or involved CCPD officers.

While the guns do not need to be replaced annually, the ammunition used in training officers must undertake to become qualified to handle these weapons must be restocked. CCPD purchased 42,500 rounds of ammo for close to $25,000 in January, accounting for the majority of the more than $32,000 in spending highlighted in this report.

Culver City Police has other equipment it uses to de-escalate potentially violent situations, including vehicles used to locate or confront suspects in a safe manner. This includes uncrewed UAV vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and non-lethal projectiles like flashbangs and pepperball launchers.

The use of video footage from these unmanned drones has been a controversial topic since the program was first implemented in 2020, and residents still have concerns about how police handle these drones and the footage they capture.

Retaining footage for two years is the industry standard, according to CCPD Police Chief Jason Sims, who noted that these vehicles are deployed only in criminal cases and the footage they capture is handled differently from other visual material CCPD may gather.

"Unlike our automated license plate cameras, which capture folks in the public domain, this video is associated with crimes." Police Chief Jason Sims said of the drone footage. "When we created this policy...we landed on the retention rate which aligns with our body-worn cameras."

Per the requirements of AB 481, this list of military-grade equipment and their uses will be brought to the City Council at its meeting on Monday, November 10. The full report can be viewed on the CCPD website here.