Montgomery County County Police Could Lose More Than 100 Officers Starting in January
MONTGOMERY MD December 4, 2024
The Montgomery County police department – which saw a slight decrease in its sworn officer vacancy rate this year – is anticipating more staffing challenges in 2025 due to the potential loss of more than 100 officers through retirement, according to a report presented Monday to the County Council’s Public Safety Committee.
Department officials warned that “tough decisions” will be coming in the face of the potential exacerbation of the department’s current staffing shortage – highlighted by a sworn officer vacancy rate of 13%, according to the report by council legislative analyst Susan Farag. Some of those decisions will come in the form of a staffing plan underway for next year, police Chief Marc Yamada told the committee Monday.
“Our approach has been purposeful and intentional. None of this has been done randomly,” Yamada said during the meeting. “I have given great consideration to officer wellness and work-life balance and I have leveraged my solid relationship with both of our unions in formulating different aspects of this plan.”
The anticipated loss of officers stems from an “enhanced pension benefit multiplier” that will take effect in January, according to the committee report. The pension multiplier will allow “eligible officers to retire sooner and receive a larger benefit” and the department estimates it could result in a loss of more than 100 officers out of 1,278 officers, the report said.
The news comes more than six months after the committee met to discuss the department’s highest vacancy rate of sworn officers in 10 years, at 14%, with 179 vacancies at that time. As of Oct. 31, the vacancy rate had decreased slightly to 13%, with 166 vacancies.
It also comes less than a week after the department launched a new recruitment website for police officers and public safety communication specialists who staff the county’s Emergency Communications Center. According to a Nov. 26 press release, the website is a “critical component” for the department to address its recruitment and retention challenges.
After hearing the update from police officials, Councilmember Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3), who chairs the committee, emphasized the need for the department to stay competitive among other area law enforcement agencies, especially when it comes to salaries. Katz was joined by council and committee members Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) and Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) at Monday’s meeting.
“We need to figure out how we’re going to hire some of the people that they’re able to attract,” Katz said. “Why aren’t we able to attract them as fast?”
He noted that increasing pay by a few thousand dollars was a “small investment” that could make “a big difference” in helping the county match its competitors from outside jurisdictions.
