The Montgomery County Police Department is still trying to attract more patrol officers while planning for expected retirements in the agency.
A legislative report to the Montgomery County Council Public Safety Committee lays out departmental challenges while addressing concerns about crime in the county. The report states the department is having to do more with less amid ballooning expenses in overtime costs.
According to the report, the current complement of sworn officer positions is 1,278, but 166 of those positions remain vacant. There are six police districts, and 6D, which includes the Gaithersburg area, has the highest number of vacancies, at 32 open positions.
The report also shows response times for “priority” calls have dropped in 2024, while response times for “routine” calls are “mixed.” According to one chart in the report, 3D, which includes Silver Spring, has seen priority response times increase by just :14 seconds between 2019 and 2024, while they’ve risen by 1:18 in 5D, the district that includes Germantown.
Another concern within the department involves overtime costs. The report states that in FY24, the approved overtime budget was set at $11.6 million, “but the department spent $19.9 million.”
While the agency works to boost recruitment, there are concerns that, as of March of this year, 32% of sworn staff members were eligible for some form of retirement. That could include “normal” retirement, “early retirement” or participation in a program that allows officers to collect a pension benefit while continuing to work for up to three years before they would be required to retire.
The push to get and keep police officers is not unique to Montgomery County. A number of departments in Maryland and D.C. have added signing bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 for new recruits.
The county council’s Public Safety Committee work session on the issue is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m. Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada and Assistant Chief Darren Francke are among those expected to attend.
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