09/26/2025

Military Equipment Tracking—AB 481 Simplified for California Law Enforcement

Now that California agencies are into their second and third AB 481 reporting cycles, many realize tracking military equipment isn’t something you can just pull together in a spreadsheet. 

the high stakes of doing it right 

AB 481 requires agencies to adopt military equipment use policies, publish them for community review, hold hearings, and produce detailed annual reports. These reports cover usage, costs, inventory, audit results, and future plans—and they’re posted publicly. 

Getting this right isn’t optional. Without an approved policy, agencies cannot fund, acquire, or use their militarized equipment. If annual reports are missing or incomplete, the governing body can revoke approval—forcing agencies to stop using the equipment altogether. And because the reports are public, even small errors or omissions can damage trust and invite scrutiny from community members and oversight groups. 

In other words, accuracy isn’t just about compliance—it’s about protecting access to critical equipment for your teams and community going forward. See how Mcmtech helps make AB 481 compliance so much easier below.

the challenges of compliance 

On paper, AB 481 reporting looks straightforward. In reality, it’s a recurring, resource-intensive task that adds real strain to teams that are already stretched thin. Here’s why. 

→ required data is scattered across departments and systems 

One of the biggest hurdles agencies face is that the information required for AB 481 doesn’t live in one place. Inventory records might sit in one database, cost information in another, and usage logs in yet another—or worse, on paper, in email threads, or saved across individual spreadsheets. 

Pulling this together into a single, accurate report forces staff to track down colleagues in multiple departments, dig into multiple systems, reconcile conflicting data, and copy and paste numbers manually. It’s tedious, error-prone, and a challenge for any-sized agency. 

→ required cost tracking is complex 

In addition to collecting scattered information, agencies have to calculate costs tied to militarized items beyond acquisition. AB 481 specifically requires accounting for personnel hours, training, maintenance, transport, storage, and upgrade costs. These costs must be isolated from the broader budget so they can be reported independently. 

But most agency budgets aren’t built that way. They don’t generate militarized item detail as a line item, and they rarely prorate costs at the level AB 481 demands. Pulling those numbers often means guessing at allocations, backtracking through timesheets, or piecing together multiple budget codes never designed for this purpose. The result is a painstaking back and forth process that makes accurate compliance reporting extremely complicated. 

→ resources are already stretched thin 

Few agencies have a dedicated compliance unit, so responsibility for AB 481 reporting gets stacked on top of already full workloads. Staff who should be focused on keeping equipment maintained and operations running get pulled into weeks of data collection, spreadsheet building, and back-and-forth emails. Critical projects like fleet readiness or firmware updates — along with day-to-day responsibilities — get pushed aside as the AB 481 reporting deadline takes priority. 

And it happens every year, draining time and energy from teams with already-heavy workloads. 

→ mistakes carry public consequences 

As if the workload isn’t enough, the pressure to “get it right the first time” adds another layer of stress to an already difficult reporting process.  

Agencies have to publish their AB 481 reports online and present them in community meetings. With that level of visibility, even small mistakes or inconsistencies can spark controversy. And once these are out in public, they can’t be quietly corrected—every change is on record. At the same time, most people never see the updates, so the original missteps are what stick. The result is lasting damage to credibility that’s hard to undo. 

Mcmtech simplifies AB 481 reporting 

Mcmtech's solutions are all about data management with core competences in tracking, managing, maintaining, and reporting, minimizing AB 481 compliance pain points. 

• reporting made simple: Mcmtech can support all six elements AB 481 requires—usage, costs, inventory, audit results, complaints, and planning for future acquisitions—with one centralized platform that’s searchable, filterable, and exportable. Reports that took weeks of staff chasing spreadsheets and crunching numbers now generate in minutes. 
• costs tracked clearly: Mcmtech can capture and isolate costs related to military items including personnel time, training, maintenance, transport, storage and upgrades. When reporting season arrives, the numbers are already tracked—accurate, complete and defensible. 
• approvals backed by data: AB 481 requires agencies to secure governing body approval before applying for grants, accepting donations or purchasing military equipment. That means leaders need precise information on costs, funding sources and current inventory to access additional resources. Mcmtech makes it easy to deliver a clear, accurate picture when seeking approval. 
• sustainable ease: AB 481 isn’t going away—it’s a recurring obligation. Mcmtech gives agencies a way to manage it for the long haul, turning yearly scrambles into ongoing ease. The result? Accurate reports, less stress, and more time to focus on public safety. 

Mcmtech has the expertise and tools to turn this yearly scramble into a smooth, consistent and repeatable process—and is already helping public safety agencies across the country, including many in California, simplify complex tracking, audits and reporting requirements like AB 481.   

obligation becomes opportunity 

AB 481 compliance is just one piece of the bigger picture. Effective, efficient management of public safety equipment and gear is vital to successful missions—and to keeping teams and communities safe.  

The same tools that make AB 481 reporting simple also streamline the rest of your operations, giving you clearer visibility, stronger accountability, and less stress across the board. That means Mcmtech can turn your compliance burden into a manageable, sustainable process—while strengthening the systems your staff rely on every day. 

Schedule a personalized demo today to see how Mcmtech can help. 

 

Updated September 26, 2025, 9:33 pm