I am the only CSO in the City of Keizer, OR, pop: 32,000. I too wear a ballistic vest and only carry OC even though I have run into some very angry people. Right now we have one "gentleman" in our city that has been tresspassed from the PD, is getting his CCW revoked, and is up for a psychological eval, all because I wrote him a parking ticket (court is pending..should be lively). I have pushed for better defensive tools in the past but have gotten nowhere. It might be the CSO title. I would be interested to learn what justification was used to get a PA title.

I'm a PSO (Police Services Officer) in Arizona, not California, but yes we are issued tasers. We carry OC, baton, handcuffs, Taser, radio and other items of choice depending on assignment. We are also issued ballistic vests, at the moment there are no exterior carriers for us. So we pretty much carry everything except firearm and ammo!