The Coronado City Council heard a report on the police department’s annual military equipment use and approved additional tools to ensure early intervention.
Director of Police Services Rick Martinez said that there were no changes to the equipment used by the police department this year, just an addition to equipment they already had. Martinez brought two props to show what was being used in the field and why they needed more.
At the city council meeting on April 2, Martinez presented two foam projectiles that come out of the 40mm impact guns used to control a situation without a lethal use of force.
He described getting hit by one of these as getting hit by a baseball traveling 90 miles per hour.
“It’s an early intervention and has been very instrumental in de-escalation of pretty significant events,” Martinez explained.
The police department wanted to acquire four more 40mm impact guns to ensure less lethal tools would be available in marked patrol vehicles.
Mayor Richard Bailey also clarified that this was a non-lethal piece of equipment.
I think what many of us think of military equipment, we think of something that’s very large, very loud and very lethal. This is obviously not.
Mayor Richard Bailey
“I think what many of us think of military equipment, we think of something that’s very large, very loud and very lethal. This is obviously not,” Bailey said.
Currently, the department has 12 40mm launchers. In addition to these non lethal weapons, the police department also has one command van, two field vehicles and 47 patrol rifles.
The council moved to approve the additional tools and the continued use of equipment.
Annual adjustments
The city council also had a public hearing from city staff for a recommendation to adopt a resolution implementing annual adjustments to police, EMS/ambulance, development-related fees, wastewater capacity fees and special event fees for fiscal year 2024-25.
The city council generally includes yearly indexing in the approval of different fees for the city, but state law still requires a public hearing to affirm fee adjustments, which may not exceed the reasonable cost incurred by the city in providing the service, according to the staff report.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the San Diego region in the previous year was 5.1%. As a result, an increased adjustment of 5.1% was being proposed for fiscal year 2024-25 for each indexed adjustment including animal service fees and storm water fees.
All of the council members approved the adjustments, meaning it will go into effect July 1.
