Montgomery County data shows ongoing major challenges with police staffing, recruitment

[Sunrise]

Yep. It’s part of what they don’t get, both the politicians and they dumb asses that keep putting them in office.
All the, “Police are bad” and defunding LE has the unavoidable effect of higher crime. It will spread like a bad virus, starting with places near metro but eventually reaching every corner. It’s becoming noticeable in Bethesda now, and our monthly neighborhood letter in CC started warning of cars being tampered with and property being stolen. Small things that wouldn’t have happened a year or two ago. But that’s how it all starts, and soon we’ll hear about carjackings, robberies, thefts, and assaults and murders in CC, Potomac, and other “affluent” areas of the county.
I wonder what the results the county politicians are looking for. Is it misery for all? I don’t get it.


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All good points here.

Criminals are regularly cruising Bethesda looking for targets of opportunity, whether it's a person, property or vehicle. They're carrying illegal firearms. There need to be enough police visible on the street so that the criminal don't even consider committing a crime and the prison sentence needs to be so harsh that all their friends don't even consider doing it. It's inevitable that some of these criminals will experience lawful self-defense by a legal carrier at some point, and I hope that's the reputation MoCo eventually earns among criminals (once this unconstitutional law is thrown out).

MoCo's all Democrat leadership isn't interested in solving this crime problem if it means they lose political power in the process. It's not a sacrifice or admission of failure they're willing to make. They'd rather have the crime as long as they're in power and don't have to accept responsibility. Their voters feel the same way.

Look at the thousands of vehicles stolen in the past few years in Montgomery County. Literally thousands. The majority of those vehicle owners voted for Elrich again, which meant they tolerated having their cars stolen as long as it meant that a pro-public safety Republican wouldn't win in the General Election or comparatively pro-public safety Democrat like David Blair wouldn't win in the Primary. The crime level is an acceptable cost of ensuring Democrat power in MoCo.

 

[Sunrise]

"How dare you arm your parishioners! Hire our cops OR ELSE!"

Protection racket 101.

With the patrol staffing continuing to plummet, it'll get to the point where there won't be enough off-duty MoCo cops to hire and it'll be other "Private Security" instead.

 

[Bob A]

I wonder what the results the county politicians are looking for. Is it misery for all? I don’t get it.


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That's what the Woke chatterati now call "Equity".

 

[spoon059]

"How dare you arm your parishioners! Hire our cops OR ELSE!"

Protection racket 101.

Not even in the slightest. Upper mgmt in collusion with the elected officials are the ones destroying the fabric of the community. I personally encourage everyone to arm themselves and be accountable for their own safety.

The FOP is certainly willing to try to find officers to work part time security gigs IF YOU WANT THEM, but are certainly not threatening or strong-arming anyone into hiring "protection".

My personal church had its own voluntary security ministry, including armed supervisers and several armed off duty cops. It is all completely voluntary. There is no racket at all.

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[RFBfromDE]

Not even in the slightest. Upper mgmt in collusion with the elected officials are the ones destroying the fabric of the community. I personally encourage everyone to arm themselves and be accountable for their own safety.

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No problem. We are on the same page.

I sometimes speak figuratively.

 

[Sunrise]

Not even in the slightest. Upper mgmt in collusion with the elected officials are the ones destroying the fabric of the community. I personally encourage everyone to arm themselves and be accountable for their own safety.

The FOP is certainly willing to try to find officers to work part time security gigs IF YOU WANT THEM, but are certainly not threatening or strong-arming anyone into hiring "protection".

My personal church had its own voluntary security ministry, including armed supervisers and several armed off duty cops. It is all completely voluntary. There is no racket at all.

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I feel a real sense of comfort when I see officers standing inside/outside locations which could be targets, and I say thank you whenever I can. I also carry regularly as often as I can as well.

Based on the recent Report, at least 30% of the MoCo Police Force is eligible for some kind of retirement. What would happen if those eligible folks all just walked off the job today? Would it change anything for upper management or county leadership? I feel like something on that level needs to happen for there to be an actual change in direction short of a change in Elected County Leadership or Department Leadership. What do you think?

 

[justanotherjeep]

I don’t think there are too many officers eligible for the drop that haven’t filed their paper work. Younger officers are jumping ship to the Fire Department or other police departments.

 

[md123]

All we need are more “empathy” crayons nailed to telephone poles.

 

[Name Taken]

This does not appear to be unique to MoCo.

Officers are transffering to Harford, Carroll, and Howard County from various departments. Who would have thought that a group that is majority conservative in their political values, would head towards departments they feel will support them. It is not a pay issue.

 

[joppaj]

Every PD in the nation is struggling to recruit. DNR police had to extend a vacancy process last year. That's unheard of.

 

[spoon059]

I feel like something on that level needs to happen for there to be an actual change in direction short of a change in Elected County Leadership or Department Leadership. What do you think?

I don't know what it would take to change things for the better. I can tell you that lowered standards and public derision have had a catastrophic effect. Older officers are completely checked out. Younger officers don't know how to do the job. The newest officers are people who would have never made the cut even 5 years ago.

I don't know how you can replace the experience and knowledge that you are chasing out the door. Even if the politicians wanted good cops again, I don't know if the new guys are capable. And who would teach them, even if the politicians flipped the switch tomorrow?

The smart cops see the writing on the wall, they see the political decisions to charge cops with crimes because that's the way the winds are blowing this week. Any cop with half a brain isn't going to do anything that puts themselves intentionally in harms way anymore.

I hear younger officers talk about the best backup being "Officer Time"... just wait a little longer for the suspect to be gone. They are teaching us to take a "tactical pause" before responding... again, wait for the suspect to leave so you don't have to use force.

We aren't training cops anymore, we're training armed report takers. Show up after the dust has settled and document what you see when you finally do arrive.

21 years ago I was taught to run to gunfire to protect my fellow citizens. I had the confidence that if I had to use deadly force, I would hopefully win that fight and the law would support me. Now, they are training us to be gentle and wait and not use force and hope for the best. But if you ever do use force, they are going to try their best to charge you with something. Who would risk it now? Makes more sense to wait for the shooting to stop, then come in and write a report. Much less likely I'd have to use force and get fired and charged with a crime.

I am so grateful that at this point in my career I am tasked with investigations rather than street work. I don't know how to put 21 years of training and experience behind me and be the type of cop the politicians want now. I just couldn't intentionally NOT respond to a violent in progress call because I don't want to risk catching the suspect... but that is what we are teaching young officers now.

Best of luck to those lost behind enemy lines, cause help isn't coming for you.

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[spoon059]

Every PD in the nation is struggling to recruit. DNR police had to extend a vacancy process last year. That's unheard of.

They certainly are struggling, but some places are struggling much worse. DNR may have extended their process, but Montgomery County has significantly lowered our standards for hiring, and then significantly lowered our standards to pass the academy on top of that.

When you treat your people like mushrooms, expect to have much worse problems than other places.

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[Billyb]

Best of luck to those lost behind enemy lines, cause help isn't coming for you.

I wish this would be read by every voter in Maryland. Thank you for sharing this. I don’t know which emotion I am feeling stronger, anger or sadness. Thank you for your service.

 

[TwinTurbskis]

I am counting the days til I can leave this county for good.

 

[teratos]

They certainly are struggling, but some places are struggling much worse. DNR may have extended their process, but Montgomery County has significantly lowered our standards for hiring, and then significantly lowered our standards to pass the academy on top of that.

When you treat your people like mushrooms, expect to have much worse problems than other places.

When you lower your standards you get bad cops. Awesome.

 

[joppaj]

When you lower your standards you get bad cops. Awesome.

I tried explaining this to my wife about the Memphis murder. I think I'm finally getting through.

 

[teratos]

I tried explaining this to my wife about the Memphis murder. I think I'm finally getting through.

It’s sad what has been done to a noble and admired profession.

 

[erwos]

Best of luck to those lost behind enemy lines, cause help isn't coming for you.

lol yes. The last couple times I've had to file noise complaints because my neighbors decided to throw amplified ragers in their backyard at 9PM, response was 2-3 hours. Presumably the cops were dealing with more pressing matters, but it does make you wonder how much capacity they have if things ever get extra-spicey on the wrong night. I also do think they were hoping the problem would go away on its own (and it never does; I only started calling because they were going to 1-2AM in the morning regularly).

To the MoCo Council's credit (not a thing I say much), I don't think they were ever on the defund the police train. However, the general cop-bashing / pro-BLM sentiment in 2020 was, I assume, enough to really hurt the department anyways. Keep in mind this is in MoCo, which, while not crime-free, is hardly Baltimore City. (I'm still trying to understand how Baltimore hasn't turned into a Chicago-style free-fire zone at this point.) If they're having trouble, any jurisdiction with really severe problems is probably horrifying.

There's no easy way out of this. You can try to pay more, but any sane parent is going to tell their kids to stay out of law enforcement, either because they're a flaming liberal who confuses cause-and-effect, or because you're a sane person who sees how terrible that job is. I have buddies who used to be cops, and to a man, they all dropped out of the street work gig and became trainers.

 

[joppaj]

MoCo's county council is as openly hostile as any I've ever seen anywhere. I feel bad for the folks too far into their careers to move. When they were setting up their complaint review board it had to include at least one person who had been directly impacted by "police violence" and could not include anyone who had ever been police in any capacity. Their rulings are binding and the chief may only impose a harsher penalty than they recommend, not a lesser one.

 

[Jim12]

MoCo's county council is as openly hostile as any I've ever seen anywhere. I feel bad for the folks too far into their careers to move. When they were setting up their complaint review board it had to include at least one person who had been directly impacted by "police violence" and could not include anyone who had ever been police in any capacity. Their rulings are binding and the chief may only impose a harsher penalty than they recommend, not a lesser one.

That's outrageous. Not unlike requiring that a crime victim to be on a criminal trial jury.