Local Police on Alert During Days Surrounding Inauguration

Montgomery County Police Department is collaborating with local and federal law enforcement officers surrounding the days of the presidential inauguration, which will be held on Wednesday.

A group of county police officers will be assisting the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, which it has done since the 2001 Inauguration. It also is assisting the Capitol Police Department, according to a police spokesperson.

During the Jan. 6 riots inside the U.S. Capitol, 53 county police officers went to D.C. “in accordance with a mutual aid agreement,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to MyMCM. Those officers are members of a Special Events Response Team.

In a message on the neighborhood social networking service, Nextdoor, MCPD Commander Darren Francke  of the Third District in Silver Spring explained that he “directed additional resources into our downtown [Jan. 6] that night to ensure a safe environment.”

Francke noted that his department was aware that some protesters stayed at area hotels and that the police “have significant resources dedicated to ensuring things remain peaceful in our community.”

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police will send officers to Washington, D.C. “to assist with security measures on Inauguration Day. We will provide horse mounted and ground officer presence,” explained Capt. Jeffrey Coe, assistant chief, patrol branch, Maryland-National Capital Park Police, Montgomery County Division.

The Takoma Park Police is “in an all hands on deck posture,” explained Chief Antonio DeVaul in a message to residents. Police are making “a high visibility presence in the city,” in both marked and unmarked cars and on foot, he wrote.

This just in…Police Chief DeVaul provides an update to the City on security preparedness. While there continue to be no direct threats to Takoma Park, we are in an all hands on deck posture as a precaution.

Read more: https://t.co/r16CXavGfK pic.twitter.com/Sxh5ajGlur

— TakomaParkMD (@TakomaParkMD) January 17, 2021

About Suzanne Pollak

Suzanne is a freelance reporter with Montgomery Community Media. She has over 35 years professional experience writing for newspapers, magazines, non-profit newsletters and the web.

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