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The county executive is hereby authorized to establish and maintain within the county headquarters and substations of the county police and to fix the locations thereof. The present headquarters and substations of such police shall continue to be maintained unless otherwise provided by the county executive. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 18-8; 1939, ch. 730, § 9; 1943, ch. 449, § 786; 1969 L.M.C., ch. 43, § 2.)
(a) If the County does not provide police protection in the City of Takoma Park, and the City provides its own citywide police protection, reimbursements to the City for police services must be the greater of the amount calculated under Section 30A-3 or $4,020,521.
(b) If the County resumes police services in the City of Takoma Park after a fiscal year begins, the amount paid under subsection (a) must be prorated according to the number of days in that fiscal year that the County provides the services.
(c) Nothing in this Section limits the jurisdiction of the County police in the City of Takoma Park. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 18-9; 1939, ch. 730, § 9; 1943, ch. 449, § 786; 2003 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 7, §1.)
Editor’s note—2022 L.M.C., ch. 7
, § 3, states: Sec. 3. Transition. The County Executive may phase in the implementation of Section 1 of this Act over a three-year period after the effective date. In fiscal year 2023, subject to Section 30A-4, the County must fund the reimbursements at no less than 80% of the amounts specified under Section 1. In fiscal year 2024, subject to Section 30A-4, the County must fund the reimbursements at no less than 90% of the amounts specified under Section 1. Beginning in fiscal year 2025, the County must fully fund the reimbursements specified under Section 1, subject to Section 30A-4.
(a) Definitions. In this Section the following words have the meanings indicated:
Commission means the Advisory Commission on Policing.
Department means the Montgomery County Police Department.
Institutional members are: (A) the Police Chief or the Police Chief’s designee; and (B) the President of an employee organization certified under Article V of Chapter 33 or the President’s designee.
(b) Established. County Council must appoint an Advisory Commission on Policing.
(c) Composition and terms of members.
(1) The Commission has 15 members consisting of 13 public members and 2 institutional members.
(2) The Council must appoint all members. Except for the institutional members, every other member should represent a community organization operating in the County or be an individual. Each Councilmember must nominate one public member. If there is a vacancy on the Commission and the Councilmember who appointed the Commissioner is no longer on the Council, then the Councilmember’s successor must appoint the public member to fill the vacancy.
(3) Of the public members:
(A) one member, known as the youth member, must be 25 years of age or younger at the time of appointment;;
(B) one member, known as the young adult member, must be 26-35 years of age at the time of appointment; and
(C) both the youth member and young adult member must be nominated by the County Executive.
(4) The public members appointed under paragraphs (2) and (3) should:
(A) reflect a range of ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and places of origin to reflect the racial and economic diversity of the County’s communities, including religious creed, age, sex - including on the basis of gender identity or orientation, disability, and geographic location, with emphasis on those disproportionately impacted by inequities; and
(B) have an interest or expertise in policing matters.
(5) The term of each member is 3 years. A member must not serve more than two consecutive full terms. A member must continue in office until a successor is appointed and qualified. After an appointment to fill a vacancy before a term expires, the successor serves a three-year term.
(d) New member orientation. Every new member must participate in an orientation program consisting of a menu of training opportunities determined by the Chair in consultation with staff.
(e) Voting, officers, meetings, and compensation.
(1) Except the institutional members, all members of the Commission are voting members.
(2) The Commission must elect a Chair and Vice-Chair from among its voting members.
(3) The Commission meets at the call of the Chair. The Commission must meet as often as necessary to perform its duties, but not less than 6 times each year.
(4) A member must serve without compensation. However, a member may request reimbursement for mileage and dependent care costs at rates established by the County.
(f) Duties. The Commission must:
(1) advise the Council on policing matters;
(2) provide information regarding best practices on policing matters;
(3) recommend policies, programs, legislation, or regulations;
(4) comment on matters referred to it by the Council;
(5) conduct at least one public forum each year for community input on policing matters;
(6) accept correspondence and comments from members of the public, except that the Commission must forward to the Police Advisory Board complaints involving police misconduct and discipline that fall under the jurisdiction of the Police Advisory Board pursuant to Section 35-24; and
(7) engage in public education.
(g) Requests for information. The County, including the Police Department, should respond to Commission requests for information within 30 days after the County receives the request.
(h) Annual Report. By July 1 each year, the Commission must submit to the Executive and the Council an annual report on its functions, activities, accomplishments, and plans and objectives.
(i) Advocacy. The Commission must not engage in any advocacy activity at the State or federal levels unless that activity is approved by the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
(j) Staff. The Executive Director of the Office of the County Council must provide appropriate staff to the Commission.
(k) The Commission is not a regulatory or disciplinary body over any law enforcement agency. (2019 L.M.C., ch. 29, §1.; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1.)
Editor’s note—2019 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2, states: Transition. Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(2), the Council must designate the Chair and Vice-Chair until the Commission elects the Chair and Vice-Chair.
Former Sec. 35-6, "Same-Same-Abolished", derived from Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 96-1, was repealed by 2003 L.M.C., ch. 11, § 1.
(a) Legislative findings.
(1) The United States Department of Justice advises that:
(A) strong relationships of mutual trust between police agencies and the communities they serve are critical to maintaining public safety and effective policing;
(B) police officials rely on the cooperation of community members to provide information about crime in their neighborhoods, and to work with the police to devise solutions to crime and disorder problems; and
(C) community members’ willingness to trust the police depends on whether they believe that police actions reflect community values and incorporate the principles of procedural justice and legitimacy.
(2) The Police Executive Research Forum hosted a national meeting of police and community leaders. The following key issues and recommendations were determined to be useful to help police departments and their communities to develop collaborative strategies for moving forward. Police departments should:
(A) acknowledge and discuss with communities the challenges local police departments face;
(B) be transparent and accountable;
(C) take steps to reduce bias and improve cultural competency;
(D) maintain focus on the importance of collaboration and be visible in the community; and
(E) promote internal diversity and ensure professional growth opportunities.
(b) Community policing guidelines. To further community policing objectives:
(1) officers must strive to regularly initiate and engage in positive nonenforcement activities with their communities;
(2) the Department must ensure cultural competency throughout the Department and increase officer knowledge of the County’s diverse population;
(3) the Department must emphasize the recruitment of candidates with ties to the County;
(4) the Department must increase community outreach initiatives and officers must attend community events on behalf of the Department;
(5) the Department must provide adequate training in de-escalation tactics;
(6) the Police Chief must designate a liaison to each population that is disproportionately impacted by inequities, as appropriate; and
(7) the Department must incorporate mental health and positive youth development initiatives in partnership with County departments, agencies, and community-based organizations.
(c) Reporting requirements.
(1) By February 1 each year, the Montgomery County Department of Police must report the following information to the Executive and Council for the prior calendar year:
(A) information about the demographic makeup of the Department, including:
(i) the total number of sworn police officers in the Department;
(ii) the total number of sworn racial minority police officers in the Department by race and ethnicity;
(iii) the total number of sworn female police officers in the Department;
(iv) the number of sworn police officers in the Department that reside in the County; and
(v) any other demographic information voluntarily provided by sworn police officers;
(B) the number of recruiting events the Department sponsored or participated in the County;
(C) the number of instances of use of force that resulted in an injury when the injury occurred as a direct result of an officer’s actions;
(D) the number of civilian complaints about the use of force by an officer;
(E) the number of civilian complaints regarding discrimination and harassment;
(F) the number of officers who were suspended with pay;
(G) the number of officers who were suspended without pay;
(H) the percentage of patrol officers who were assigned to neighborhood patrols;
(I) the number of youth under the age of 18 years referred to intervention programs by officers;
(J) data, in the manner prescribed by the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, regarding the number of calls for service involving substance abuse, the responses to those calls, and the outcomes of those calls;
(K) data, in the manner prescribed by the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, regarding the number of calls for service involving mental health issues, the responses to those calls, and the outcomes of those calls;
(L) demographic information regarding individuals stopped (including a stop and frisk that does not result in a citation or arrest), searched, cited, arrested, or the subject of a use of force incident by the Department, including:
(i) race;
(ii) ethnicity;
(iii) gender;
(iv) age; and
(v) any other demographic information voluntarily provided by the detainee;
(M) demographic information regarding individuals subject to a field interview, including:
(i) race;
(ii) ethnicity;
(iii) gender;
(iv) location;
(v) age; and
(vi) any other demographic information voluntarily provided by the detainee;
(N) a description of the Department’s training standards and practices, including training and practices related to de-escalation;
(O) a description of the Department’s community policing efforts, including community policing programs, participation in town hall meetings, and efforts to engage with schools, recreation centers, community centers, and senior centers;
(P) the number of officers subject to each type of officer discipline;
(Q) the number of violations of the use of force policy, and the number of officers found to have violated the use of force policy;
(R) the number of investigations conducted by the Internal Affairs Division of the Department;
(S) with respect to civilian complaints, the number of complaints per police district, the number of officers against whom the complaints were made, and the outcomes of the complaints;
(T) the number of overtime hours worked per police district; and
(U) data, in the manner prescribed by the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, regarding the number of service calls involving a homeless individual, the responses to those calls, and the outcomes of those calls.
(2) The Council annually must hold a public hearing regarding the report submitted under paragraph (1).
(3) Subject to state and federal law, the Department must maintain the following public datasets, to include race, gender, age, and ethnicity data, and data by police district, division, and bureau, on the web portal identified in Article XIV of Chapter 2:
(A) use of force incidents;
(B) field interview reports;
(C) juvenile citations;
(D) criminal citations, including trespassing citations;
(E) alcohol beverage violations;
(F) possession of marijuana violations less than 10 grams;
(G) smoking marijuana in public places;
(H) the pointing of a service weapon, taser, or pepper spray at an individual;
(I) the issuance of a stay-away order for trespass enforcement, and the location of property where the enforcement occurs;
(J) information identified under Section 5 of Chapter 59 of the 2021 Laws of Maryland regarding the activation, deployment, and results of the SWAT team;
(K) information identified under Section 1 of Chapter 62 of the 2021 Laws of Maryland regarding search warrants;
(L) arrests, including arrests on or immediately adjacent to school property;
(M) searches, including searches that result in arrest or the discovery of contraband;
(N) stops (including stop and frisks that does not result in citations or arrests);
(U) service calls related to mental health;
(V) service calls related to substance abuse issues;
(W) service calls related to homeless individuals; and
(X) service calls determined to be unfounded.
(4) If state or federal law prevents the Department from publishing a dataset under paragraph (3), the Department must, in its report under paragraph (1), identify the dataset and explain the reason that the dataset is confidential.
(5) For the datasets published under paragraph (3), the Department must provide an explanation of terms used in the data, such as the term other to identify race or ethnicity, and guidelines regarding how to navigate the data.
(6) The Department must also provide the information reported under paragraph (1) to the Advisory Commission on Policing established under Section 35-6.
(d) Annual survey.
(1) The Department annually must conduct an anonymous survey of residents and officers regarding police-community relations, including, at a minimum, the levels of trust communities have in the police.
(2) The survey must be administered to residents in multiple languages.
(3) The survey must contain demographic information, including racial, ethnic, age, gender, and geographic information, regarding respondents.
(4) The Department must post the survey results on the web portal identified in Article XIV of Chapter 2.
(e) The Department must designate an individual officer as the point of contact responsible for the data collection and transparency requirements under this Section.
(f) The Department must post online each written agreement it has entered into with a property owner regarding the enforcement of trespass laws. (2020 L.M.C., ch. 7, §1; 2021 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2021 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1.)
(a) Definitions. For purposes of this Section, the following terms have the meanings indicated.
Active listening means a process by which parties reach a peaceful resolution to a dispute, including through the skills of:
(1) managing stress quickly while remaining alert and calm;
(2) controlling emotions and behavior;
(3) paying attention to the words and feelings expressed by others; and
(4) being aware of and respecting differences.
Cadet or police cadet means a uniformed civilian employee of the Department who participates in the Cadet Program established by the Department for college students.
Civic engagement means participation by community members in social and political processes designed to communicate ideas, values, and beliefs, and to promote legal, political, or social change.
Community policing means a policing strategy to develop trusting relationships with the community, and to work in partnership with the community to address crime, public safety, and quality of life issues.
Health means a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Police academy means the entry-level police training academy required by the Department for all prospective police officers.
Policing history means a social, political, and historical understanding of why and how policing developed in the United States, including an examination of the transitional eras of policing (Political Era, Reform/Professional Era, and Community Era) and the structural changes that occurred under each of those eras since the mid nineteenth century.
Racial equity has the meaning stated in Section 2-64A.
Social justice has the meaning stated in Section 2-64A.
Wellness means a positive approach to living.
(b) Cadet program. The Department must collaborate and partner with local educational institutions to:
(1) expand the recruitment of police cadets who reflect the diversity of the County;
(2) sponsor communication sessions with prospective cadets and community members; and
(3) develop internship programs for prospective cadets.
(c) Police academy – required program regarding community services and social justice.
(1) Prior to the commencement of field training, a member of the police academy must complete a program regarding community services and social justice.
(2) The program must consist of 30 hours or their equivalent.
(3) The program must be designed, in collaboration and partnership with one or more local educational institutions, to develop competency in the topics of:
(A) racial equity and social justice;
(B) health and wellness;
(C) community policing;
(D) policing history;
(E) active listening and conflict resolution; and
(F) civic engagement.
(4) In selecting an applicant for admission into the police academy, the Department must consider:
(A) the applicant’s performance in the program under this subsection; and
(B) the applicant’s performance in any implicit bias test required by the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission.
(d) Continuing Education. The Department must collaborate and partner with local educational institutions and national law enforcement professional organizations to provide continuing education, as demonstrated by the awarding of Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) or similar credentialing indicating content mastery:
(1) to all County police officers regarding:
(A) socially just policing and community engagement; and
(B) emerging topics in law enforcement, including cybersecurity, human trafficking, and proactive community engagement;
(2) to executive-level police officers regarding leadership and management challenges in socially just policing; and
(3) to new police sergeants regarding supervisory skills, with a focus on community policing, mentorship, and ethical leadership.
(e) State requirements. The training provided under this Section must incorporate to the extent practicable, and must comply with, the requirements of the Public Safety Article of the Maryland Code, including the Maryland Use of Force Statute. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 29, §1.)
Editor’s note—2022 L.M.C., ch. 29, §§ 2 and 3, state: Sec. 2. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the Community Informed Police Training Act.
Sec. 3. Effective Date. This Act must take effect on the 181st day after it becomes law.
All fees, costs and charges in any and all criminal and civil cases allowed constables under public local laws or public general laws of this state and county paid over to any member of the county police shall be paid forthwith by such member to the director of finance of the county, and the members of the county police shall not receive by way of fees, costs or otherwise any sum other than the salaries duly authorized to be paid them. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 18-10; 1939, ch. 730, § 10.)
It shall be the duty of the members of the county police to serve and execute any and all writs, warrants and subpoenas and other papers issued by the circuit court for the county or the justices of the peace or the trial magistrates for the county, in the exercise of its criminal jurisdiction. No member of the county police shall receive any additional compensation for such services, and the police shall have all of the powers possessed by deputy sheriffs of the state under the general law of the state or the local laws of the county heretofore in existence, insofar as such powers are in reference to the criminal jurisdiction of such deputy sheriffs in making arrests or in any manner enforcing the laws of the state. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 18-11; 1939, ch. 730, § 11.)
Editor’s note-The above section is quoted in Soper v. Montgomery County, 294 Md. 331, 449 A.2d 1158 (1982)
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