Los Gatos approves police department’s ongoing use of military weapons

The Los Gatos Town Council on Aug. 18 approved renewing a law allowing the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department to use military equipment, including drones, rifles, tear gas, flash bangs, and a 40 mm launcher. Police Capt. Rebecca Albin reported the equipment falls under four categories, and the department reported only one use of force in 2019. Separately, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held an event on AI's impact on small businesses, attended by Congressman Sam Liccardo and Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce CEO Jennifer Lin.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready... Military equipment law The Los Gatos Town Council on Aug. 18 approved renewing a law that allows the police to use military equipment. Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Capt. Rebecca Albin reported to the council that the town has equipment covered under four categories: unmanned remotely piloted aerial and ground vehicles, specialized firearms and ammunition under .50 caliber, noise-flash diversionary devices, and kinetic energy weapons and munitions. Examples of these kinds of weapons are drones, rifles and ammunition, tear gas, flash bangs and a 40 mm launcher. Several members of the public spoke on the topic. Those in favor of renewing the law said the equipment is necessary to keeping residents safe and maintain the character of the neighborhood. “A situation or an escalation of violence will require us to have the equipment to meet that escalation, and if we don’t need it, it will just sit there and wait,” said Fred Faltersack. “Hopefully, we don’t need to use it, but it’ll be there if we do. It’s all about keeping our community safe.” Those who were not in favor of the resolution emphasized fears of increasing surveillance https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/25/mountain-view-flock-safety-contract-cancehttps://www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/25/mountain-view-flock-safety-contract-cancellation/llation/ , instances of violence against civilians during ICE raids https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/17/as-ice-escalates-its-tactics-are-federal-agents-truly-untouchable-in-the-eyes-of-the-law/ and current political tensions. “When you feel like you have more options for force, you feel more inclined to use them and you also feel that you fundamentally have more power and, therefore, are less likely to lean into ethical means of de-escalating a situation,” a speaker named Malcolm said. Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police only reported one use of force in 2019 https://sites.google.com/view/lgmspdtransparency/home/use-of-force . “The level of de-escalation our PD uses is remarkable,” said Vice Mayor Maria Ristow. “We don’t have fatalities from police chases. We don’t have people suddenly committing suicide when police bang on the door. They do everything they can to avoid use of force, and that’s been borne out over the years.” The business of AI Los Gatos businessowners attended an event covering how AI is affecting small businesses last week, according to a post on the social media site LinkedIn https://lnkd.in/p/g7XBPKmP . The event was held by the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with Congressman Sam Liccardo in attendance. Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce CEO Jennifer Lin said on LinkedIn that she and representatives from BurgerBots, Time Out Clothing, Inkiosoft and French Lessons also attended the event. Leah Toeniskoetter, president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, said in a LinkedIn post that the main themes of the event revolved around accessibility to AI tools, global networking platforms and technologies and education and workforce preparation.