Montgomery Community Media

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich will discuss a recently-released preliminary audit report of the county police department (MCPD) during a virtual community forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Elrich will discuss recommendations from the report, released June 30, as well as other reimagining public safety implementation updates. He commissioned the independent audit as part of the […]

The Montgomery County Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) released a comprehensive report Tuesday analyzing the county’s public safety response to mental health situations. The report found that suspected mental illness is a key risk factor that leads to uses of force by Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) officers. It cites MCPD’s latest Use of […]

The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) released its 2019 Use of Force Report, to include statistics surrounding force incidents between officers and citizens.  MCPD reported 553 use of force incidents in response to resistance in 2019, slightly higher than 542 in 2018. Inversely, there were less calls for service in 2019 than in 2018 (211,259 […]

The County Council’s bill to limit the use of excessive force by police is a danger to both police officers and residents, said Lee Holland, cooperation vice president of Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35. The bill, which was approved July 29, prohibits chokeholds and limits the use of deadly force, no-knock warrants […]

Members of the Montgomery County Council discussed the use of force, choke and neck holds, no knock warrants and other controversial police tactics during their July 9 public safety committee meeting. The committee plans to update certain police policies in light of local and nationwide police abuse incidents, especially the death of George Floyd Jr. […]

The Montgomery County Council is introducing a “Use of Force” bill that would require the use of force by police to meet certain minimum standards. This bill will be introduced, along with others, at a virtual meeting on Tuesday, June 16 at 9:30 a.m. This bill would require the police chief to issue official instructions […]

As thousands protest police brutality and racial injustice throughout the country, the calls to reform police unions — which can stand in the way of prosecuting officers who kill unarmed people of color — are getting louder. Montgomery County Police Department’s union is the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 (FOP Lodge 35). In a […]

On Tuesday, City of Takoma Park Police Chief Antonio DeVaul spoke to MyMCMedia about his reaction to the video showing George Floyd dying at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. In addition to holding the officer who killed Floyd accountable, DeVaul says the three other officers who were present should also be held […]

The police officer in a viral video that raised questions on police use of force faces a second-degree assault charge, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said. Officer Kevin Moris faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison from the assault charge, which is a misdemeanor. McCarthy said Moris also was charged with misconduct […]

Councilmember Will Jawando said he was distraught by the viral videos released last week of a police officer’s use of force on a young man being arrested at an Aspen Hill McDonald’s. In the video, the young man is lying prostrate on a sidewalk and the officer knees him in the back. “In my view […]