The Hayward City Council approved their annual military equipment policy at the June 16 meeting as part of a California law looking to create transparency between law enforcement and the people they serve.
The military equipment use ordinance includes a report written once a year that lists the military equipment Hayward Police Department (HPD) used in the past year, from April 2025 to March 2026. The report has to include what the equipment is, the quantity, why it’s used and any equipment they plan to acquire the next year.
The city council has to determine if the military equipment is necessary, cost effective and would protect the public’s welfare.
HPD’s inventory includes 113 carbine rifles, which are used to stop an armed person from a distance. The bullets used in the rifle can go through soft body armour worn by suspects. The equipment use report said the rifles were not used during the reporting period.
Other military equipment include 117 “tear gas” chemical agents, four precision rifles and two pepper powder, less-lethal launchers, which were also not used.
What was deployed this past year are the drones and the armored personnel carrier. The department has 12 drones. They were deployed 62 times for homicide, burglaries, robberies, a missing person search, stolen vehicles, search warrants, barricaded suspects and suspects with a gun. The armored personnel carrier was used 14 times for SWAT team operations and officer critical incidents.
HPD said dispatching a DFR drone can help with assessing threats and enhance the department’s de-escalation strategies
The military equipment use report included a proposal to acquire eight drones to be used for HPD’s Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program. It would allow HPD to disperse the drones throughout the city in order to give quicker emergency response times. The drones, accessories and software would cost the department nearly $590,000 a year.
HPD said dispatching a DFR drone can help with assessing threats and enhance the department’s de-escalation strategies. A trial program showed that out of 326 calls for service, a DFR showed up to 108 calls without a need to physically send an officer.
Under the Military Use policy, DFR drones would only be used for violent situations, such as active shooter situations, barricaded suspects and for rescuing hostages. The staff report said the DFR will start recording a “horizon view” once it’s launched. This means the drone would record what’s in front of it. It would not record what’s below it until it gets to the crime scene, although a demonstration video of the DFR program did show that it can record cars driving on the street from a distance.
Police said their officers are not allowed to manually control the DFR drone while it’s flying and that every drone use is recorded.
TJ from Hayward Concerned Citizens said she supports the DFR program because it’s for people who want safe neighborhoods and enhanced officer safety. She said those who have privacy concerns when it comes to drones should know that privacy is not guaranteed in public spaces.
“If you’re a law-abiding person, there’s no need to worry,” she said. “In the case of the city of Hayward, I have every confidence that the benefits of drone technology for all of our first responders far outweighs the privacy concerns.”
Dylan Rogers from Hayward Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines said the use of drones for police work is concerning.
“We have concerns over the increase in militarization of local PD, along with militarization globally,” Rogers said. He also talked about the DFR demonstration video where a young man showed his gun after seeing the drone. He said the drone seems to escalate the situation rather than de-escalate.
