The results of a two-year audit of the Montgomery County Police Department say there’s significant room for improvement to meet modern challenges.
The audit by a nonprofit consulting agency was intended to improve police transparency and accountability. One recommendation was to address use of force.
“To develop a force investigation team with special expertise in investigating serious uses of force.
The audit also recommends random review of body-worn camera footage.
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Another key finding deals with responding to mental health calls, which County Executive Marc Elrich, who commissioned the audit, acknowledges is critical.
“Our officers are basically feeding the largest mental health institute in the county, which is our jail,” he said.
Some of the other recommendations deal directly with training and retention. The county already announced a program of training and evaluation before recruitment.
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The audit also recommends better wellness assessment of officers’ well-being with an eye toward early warning and intervention, looking at things like unexcused officer absences.
Most of the recommendations will require data to point to problems and track the effectiveness of solutions and to establish more public transparency.
“We’ve done it through our records management system that were established, and many of them were antiquated to some degree,” Police Chief Marcus Jones said.
“Continuous improvement is essential to maintaining pace with constantly changing environmental circumstances and public expectations,” he said.
