California's public colleges and universities are arming campus police with military-grade equipment including AR-15-style rifles, stun grenades designed to cause temporary blindness and long-range acoustic devices known in the military as the "voice of God." But a CalMatters investigation found many schools are failing to comply with a state law requiring public oversight and transparency over such weapons.
The investigation examined 148 campuses across the California Community Colleges, University of California and California State University systems and found widespread failures to follow a 2021 law requiring governing boards to annually approve military equipment policies, publish inventories and hold public forums where students and staff can weigh in.
