The Brief

Santa Ana city leaders voted 4-3 on Tuesday to affirm their support for the city’s military equipment policy — despite community opposition.

The vote means the Santa Ana Police Department can continue using weapons, including less-lethal bean bag shotgun rounds, drones and armored vehicles. But the policy has its critics.

“For what purpose does a local police department need that?” Abraham Quintana, a local community organizer told LAist ahead of the meeting.

The vote comes as the city grapples to balance its status as the only so-called “Sanctuary City” in Orange County with a police force seen by some critics as overpolicing its residents.

Now that the council has approved the military equipment policy, the Police Department is allowed to seek funding for and request surplus military equipment from the federal government.

How we got here

State law requires police departments to publish an annual report detailing the use and acquisition of these weapons. AB 481 also requires city leaders to annually vote on their military equipment policy allowing for the weapons to be used.

Santa Ana Police Department has not been in compliance with the law for the past two years, admitting that “we messed up.” Tuesday’s vote was meant to bring them into compliance, and included a controversial topic — drones.

“The Police Department has conducted thorough research on developing an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) program. The Department has identified several vendors capable of providing systems that meet our specific requirements. It has also identified a non-general fund source of money and is requesting City Council approval to purchase and implement a UAS program, with initial costs not to exceed $250,000,” the police department wrote in its 2024-25 military equipment report.

The unmanned aerial system program is a drone program.

Last week, Santa Ana Police Commander Mat Sorenson also said the department is looking to implement a drone program. He said the city has identified funding for the program and has taken steps to begin crafting a drone-use policy that borrows language from the ACLU.

Close readers of the annual military equipment report will notice that in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 editions, the Police Department wrote that they were conducting research for a drone program for “possible future purchases.” In the 2024-25 edition, they wrote about the drone program as a “future purchase.”

The language approved Tuesday night by the Santa Ana City Council.

(

Santa Ana City Hall

)

What did city leaders say

But some city leaders said the drone program was not a done deal. Mayor Valerie Amezcua, Councilmember Thai Viet Phan, Police Chief Robert Rodriguez and City Manager Alvaro Nuñez all said at the meeting Tuesday that the City Council has not approved the purchase of drones.

“ There is no request to purchase drones. That portion of the military equipment report is a future item to present, to bring later to council,” Rodriguez said.

Before casting her vote supporting the military equipment policy, Phan said, “ The City Council has not discussed or seen a draft policy relating to the purchase of drones.”

Drone usage is increasingly common among police departments nationwide, but not without controversy. Critics have privacy concerns about drone technology.

LAist has reached out to the mayor, Phan and the police chief. We will update our story when and if we hear back.

City spokesperson Paul Eakins declined to comment for the story, referring LAist to the military equipment policy.

What's next?

Sorenson said last week at the community meeting that the Police Department has identified a funding source for the drone program.

 ”The funding we have allocated for it is from a supplemental law enforcement funding source,” he said. “It's not general fund money, it's an, in essence, a grant.”

The community weighs in

No member of the public spoke in favor of the military equipment policy at the meeting.

Quintana, the activist with Community Service Organization, Orange County, told LAist beforehand that he wants city leaders to oppose the military equipment policy.

 ”This policy allows Santa Ana PD to have ... ambush-protected vehicles, which are weapons of war,” Quintana said. “They're deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places where the United States military is operating.”

He also questioned the need to such equipment in Orange County.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Bulmaro Vicente, political and policy director for Chispa, a nonprofit Chicano rights organization, criticized the city’s failure to bring the issue of military equipment before the public.

“That’s three years of no transparency, three years of no accountability,” he said. “If the Police Department cannot even comply with a basic transparency law, how can we trust them to responsibly or legally use the equipment they are asking you to approve today — like the drone program?”

For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.

“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”

In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)

Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.

Inside Healing Force's space in Pasadena.

(

Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

)

The vibe

Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.

“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool.  I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”

(

Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

)

(

Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

)

(

Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

)

Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.

At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”

Healing Force's stage setup.

(

Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

)

The performances

The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.

On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.

About the fundraiser

With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.

“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.

You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.

See the Pasadena space before it closes

The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.

The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.

The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.

California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.

According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.

This 1924 property document from Bakersfield includes racist language limiting use of the property in question to people of "the white or Caucasian race."

(

Screenshot from CSU Bakersfield

)

L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.

Public agencies could use the public’s help.

Language examples

Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”

Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”

How to get it taken out

The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.

L.A. County:

Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:

• Highlight or underline the unlawful provision on the recorded document
• Complete the Restrictive Covenant Modification Form
• Submit the form and the recorded document by email: RCM@rrcc.lacounty.gov or in person at the Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk
• Mail instructions are here.

Orange County:

The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form

Riverside County:

Here’s the Riverside County form

San Bernardino County:

Here’s the San Bernardino County form

San Diego County:

Here’s the San Diego County form

Santa Barbara County:

Here’s the Santa Barbara County form

Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.