Members of Montgomery County Council’s public safety committee shot down a request Monday to expand a deer management program run by the county division of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police.
The division, whose officers patrol the county’s parks and public space, requested an additional $262,208 to fund three new officer positions and a new truck to expand the deer management program to an additional 1,500 acres in the county.
The public safety committee was considering whether to add the additional funds for the officers to a reconciliation list of spending, which the full council would consider when deliberating on the proposed fiscal year 2016 budget.
Rob Gibbs, natural resources manager for the county parks department, said managing the additional land as well as enforcing a new county law that reduced the safety zone for archery hunting will require the additional park police officers.
However, the council members on the committee—in particular Sidney Katz and Marc Elrich—weren’t convinced.
Elrich noted that the sharpshooting program only lasts about two months—occurring mostly in January—with preparation for the hunts happening before then.
“Why would I add three full-time police officers for something that you’re going to hunt a couple months of the year?” Elrich said. “It seems like just another way to expand the force for things that you’re not intending to use it for.”
In that time, according to Gibbs, officers will shoot about 400 to 600 deer on county park lands.
A park police official at the hearing said the officers would be used as regular patrol officers when deer management season isn’t underway.
“I believe that officers would be doing something outside of just [deer management],” Katz said. “But that’s not what we’re being told.”
Park police conduct sharpshooting operations at downcounty parks in Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring and Chevy Chase where it’s not safe for the public to hunt deer. The sharpshooting operations are designed to limit the growth of the local deer population. Deer are known to cause a number of problems in the county, ranging from destruction of gardens to vehicle collisions. Officers shot a total of 473 deer during the 2013-2014 deer harvest season, according to park police statistics.
The sharpshooting program is one facet of the park police’s deer management program, which also includes managed deer hunts with members of the public at parks in the county’s northern area in Boyds, Darnestown and Clarksburg.
Deer management programs are somewhat controversial, with animal rights advocates criticizing governments for their involvement. But the programs are a popular approach to controlling growing deer populations in the region, according to The Washington Post.
Despite this, council members were unconvinced park police needed the additional staff.
Elrich noted that overall crime has decreased in Montgomery County parks. According to park police statistics, crime was down 15.8 percent in 2014 compared to 2013 and total arrests were down nearly 20 percent.
“You got reduced crime…so the move would be to add more officers?” Elrich asked. “I’m not there.”
Near the end of the hearing, Elrich could be heard on a live mic talking to council member Roger Berliner, who had just arrived.
“Did you cut money for deer management?” Berliner asked.
“We didn’t give them what they wanted,” Elrich responded before the mic was turned off.
