Police forces at California’s K-12 schools have quietly been purchasing and using military equipment for decades — and some have yet to comply with a state law requiring them to disclose that to the public.

In 2014, public records revealed the Pentagon had armed California public school police agencies with surplus military gear. The Los Angeles School Police Department, supplied with grenade launchers, assault rifles and an armored vehicle, faced strong criticism from local civil rights groups and relinquished its federally-donated armory by 2016.

But beyond the Pentagon’s surplus program, law enforcement agencies including school police have the option to purchase military-grade equipment on their own. Nine of California’s 21 public school police forces have bought their own stashes of military-grade equipment, including semi-automatic rifles, less-lethal launchers and smoke grenades. Under the state’s Penal Code, less-lethal weapons are devices meant to incapacitate or stun someone without killing them, though some of these devices have maimed and killed in the past.

Five of the school police forces have not disclosed their inventory to the public this year, in spite of a 2021 state law requiring them to do so annually. Two of them, at San Diego Unified School District and Montebello Unified School District, published up-to-date inventory reports after CalMatters asked for them. The remaining two police departments, at Twin Rivers Unified and Santa Ana Unified, released reports for the first time in 2026 after owning the weapons for years.