The Montgomery County Police Department is trying to find some ways to address a staffing shortage that's been growing over the past five years. The shortage comes amid an increase in homicides, aggravated assaults and carjackings in the county.
In the past week, MCPD leaders briefed the Montgomery County Council about the challenges that they're facing, and they were candid about the shortages. The police department has lost 194 officers over the past five years, which amounts to a 14% vacancy rate. The 911 Emergency Communication Center has 64 vacant positions. That means they're facing a 43% vacancy rate, and priority call response times are up 17% from 2019 — and, of course, when it comes to violent crime, every second counts.
Montgomery County isn't alone; most police departments are facing similar trouble nationwide. They've upped recruitment efforts in recent years, but the new hires don't make up for recent attrition.
As a result, the use of overtime by officers is up significantly over the past year, and that's something MCPD wants to fix. Too much reliance on overtime has been shown to affect the quality of policing.
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Another factor is the type of crime that officers are responding to over the past few years. There have been more protests and school threats. While most of those threats are hoaxes, the response responses to them are robust.
MCPD Chief Marcus Jones says it's a problem that can't be fixed immediately.
"I've been sounding this alarm for some time now," he said. "That the realities are coming into fruition. That still requires us to have, really, our finger on the pulse almost daily, how we manage our staffing levels."
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The department says it's working on being more efficient. It's expanding its drone program and is using data analysis to figure out how best to allocate officers.
MCPD is working on increasing the number of female officers, with a goal of reaching 30% by 2030. They're also exploring a program in which retired officers would help out with some of the investigative work on less severe crimes, thereby freeing up resources for major crimes.
The department will also soon have to hire a new leader, as Jones previously announced he'll retire in July.
