The Fremont Police Department (FPD) is stocking up on gear which would be used for riot control or dealing with barricaded suspects.
City financial records made public in the agenda for the Aug. 8 Fremont City Council meeting reveal the department is set to likely receive approval Tuesday night to make more than $7,000 in purchases to three companies.
What exact type of riot or barricaded situational gear the department is purchasing is not detailed in the city’s financial records for the Aug. 8 council meeting.
However, the Tribune was provided invoices from the FPD with detailed descriptions of the purchases on Monday, Aug. 7, after making a public records request for the documents on Friday, Aug. 4.
One purchase was for a two-day training seminar for an FPD officer; another purchase was for seven military-style ballistic helmets; and the third purchase was for tear-gas type projectiles, belt-worn pepper spray cans and non-lethal “beanbag” shotgun ammunition.
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Fremont Police Chief Jeff Elliott did not respond to an email seeking an explanation of the purchases or what was included in the orders.
While no riots have occurred in Fremont in recent decades—if ever—local law enforcement and the Fremont Police Department do respond to situations and calls with barricaded suspects.
On April 8, 2023, the joint Emergency Response Team—a S.W.A.T-like unit composed of officers from the FPD and Dodge County Sheriff’s Office—was utilized to capture a suspect who had been in an unarmed standoff with law enforcement for five hours.
A review of Fremont Tribune archives done by the Tribune staff did not find any news coverage indicating a riot has taken place in the city over the past 40 years.
Following the death of George Floyd, which was later ruled a murder and the officers involved in his death being convicted, several peaceful protests took place in Fremont.
A group of several dozen protesters laid on the ground for more than 9 minutes on the lawn of the Dodge County Courthouse. And, in June 2020, Midland University students helped organize peaceful protests that brought hundreds of individuals together in an effort to spread awareness.
None of those 2020 protests required any crowd control measures by law enforcement to be implemented and were considered peaceful.
3 purchases total more than $7,000
The three orders are listed in the bills-payable agenda item on the consent agenda. The consent agenda is a part of each city council meeting during which multiple items are voted on as one, and there is usually no discussion or debate over each item.
One purchase is listed as payable to the company Defense Technology Corp. of America, and totals $2,462.50. The company sells a wide range of items for law enforcement, the military sector as well as the corrections industry.
On the company’s website, categories of specialty are broken down into law enforcement, the Department of Defense, corrections and “international.” In the products area of the site, offerings include batons, helmets, protective suits, restraints, shields, chemical agent devices, launchers and accessories, tactical devices, aerosols and impact munitions.
The chemical agent devices section of the website has eight pages of chemical grenade-like devices for sale, including military-style options that disperse smoke, CS gas – also known as “tear gas,” and cluster munitions that when launched, disperse four or more smaller containers of CS gas used for large crowd control.
According to an invoice from the purchase, the FPD purchased the following items:
20 belt-worn ‘OC’ spray devices
- . ‘OC’ refers to oleoresin capsicum and is often called “pepper spray.” These hand-held cannisters are aimed at a suspect and sprayed into the face or head area.
- 30 rounds of six different types of
. These rounds look like a military grenade round but contain CS gas—short for the chemical compound ‘2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile.’
- , and are designed to blow through windows, doors or thin walls and disperse the gas inside a closed area.
- 100 rounds of
- , called “drag-stablized” ammunition. These projectiles are fired from a shotgun and are designed to stun a suspect without being fatal.
A second payment on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting is to a company called Hard Head Veterans, LLC, and is for $3,993.50. The company’s website “about us” section describes the firm as, “Veteran owned and operated,” and located in Sweetwater, Texas.
“Hard Head Veterans manufactures ballistic helmets and other protective head gear. We focus on employing veterans and innovative head protection systems,” the website states. “Trusted by over 500 federal, state and local agencies and 50,000-plus customers.”
The company manufactures and sells what are called “ballistic” helmets, a type of cranial safety gear most commonly used by military special forces units, including the U.S. Army special forces, Delta Force and Pathfinders; the U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. teams; law enforcement S.W.A.T. teams; and assorted Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force special operations units.
The helmets are bullet-proof and designed to host a range of tactical equipment including night vision googles, head-mounted cameras, communications systems, flashlights and aircraft-visible infrared strobe light emitters.
According to an invoice provided to the Tribune by the city, the purchase was for seven ballistic helmets of the model ATE HHV, at a cost of $552.50. The city also bought seven helmet carrying bags.
The third purchase is to a company merely known as Pepperball, and totals the lowest cost of the three purchases at $549.
The company’s website states it provides the, “most reliable and non-lethal technology on the market today.” The four categories of products the firm sells include launchers, projectiles, accessories and tactical gear.
“Our mission is to ensure you can safely execute your mission,” officials state on the website. “As a complete non-lethal compliance system, PepperBall is a safe, effective, and simple-to-use alternative that can be used in a wider range of situations than any other product on the market.”
According to documents provided by the city in response to the records request, the $549 paid for the training session for FPD Officer Jesse Headid, who took part in a two-day instructor-armorer training course conducted by Pepperball officials that was hosted in Omaha.
“The Instructor/Armorer course certifies students as PepperBall Instructors and Armorers for their individual agency, allowing them to design a course in the safe and effective use of the PepperBall system and to service and maintain their launchers,” a description of the course states on the company website. “Every agency wishing to deploy the PepperBall system should have at least one certified officer.”
In the “course overview,” the company describes the training as follows:
“Students will develop the skills needed for the safe operation, deployment, and maintenance of the PepperBall system,” company officials state on the website. “They are given the knowledge and materials to build a custom PepperBall course that fits within their specific agency and adheres to their policies and procedures.”
The Fremont City Council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 8, in the council chambers on the second floor of the Fremont Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave.