Under the leadership of Chief Jones, the Montgomery County Police Department embraces its community relationships. “It’s constant engagement that we have. It’s not just one time, or one event but generally we try to have a consistent commitment year-round,” the Chief says.
What’s the role of your Community Service Officers?
We have at least one Community Service Officer assigned to each of our six county police districts. We have community meetings and other forms of outreach including via a social media platform called NextDoor. We also do Coffee with a Cop, which is an opportunity to engage with community members and share thoughts about policing and public safety.
Tell me about the Montgomery County Police Foundation
It’s a non-profit that helps our department in so many ways, such as providing additional training funds, and providing resources to assist us with some of our educational campaigns and community-outreach programs. They helped us purchase an opioid trailer that provides information and resources to help people with a loved one’s addiction. Also, the Foundation supports the retirement of our canines and does a holiday gift program for needy kids in our communities. And, during Covid, we did golf clinics with kids in various neighborhoods.
What about the schools?
Schools are vitally important for us to engage in relationship building. Our Community Engagement Officers have direct contact with our schools so they can respond to law enforcement needs or a call for service. They also offer programs about drug awareness and good decision making, and the officers present at assemblies and in classrooms.
For more info, contact the Montgomery County Police Community Engagement Division at MCPD_Engaged@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov.
To donate to the Police Foundation, visit MCPF-MD.Org/Donate.