Updated at 1:40 p.m. – After Montgomery County police officers found themselves on the front line during last April’s riots in Baltimore, the county is set to enter a formal police-sharing agreement with the city in case of similar events in the future.
The County Council on Tuesday introduced a mutual aid agreement between the county and the City of Baltimore that would outline procedures, notification requirements, reporting requirements and who would be in command in case county officers are ever needed to assist with an emergency event in Baltimore, or vice versa.
“Recent events involving civil unrest in the City of Baltimore have demonstrated the need to pre-plan for the sharing of police resources between Maryland jurisdictions,” County Executive Ike Leggett wrote in a Feb. 2 memo to council President Nancy Floreen. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger signed the agreement, as did Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis.
A County Council public hearing on the agreement is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15 before it goes before the council for a final vote.
Mutual aid agreements are common between police departments and fire departments in neighboring or nearby jurisdictions.
The agreement with Baltimore comes almost a year after riots erupted in the city on the day of the funeral of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who died as a result of a spinal cord injury suffered while in police custody.
The city’s police department asked for backup from other police departments around the state. Montgomery County sent 50 of its officers to the city, many who were clad in riot gear and joined city officers in front of a burning CVS store that became a symbol of the unrest.
Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Betsy Davis, who commanded the county’s contingent of officers, told Bethesda Beat last year that county officers also helped in pushing protesters away from Mondawmin Mall, the area where much of the unrest began.
Davis said at the time a county officer trained in gas systems shut down the gas line to the burning CVS building.
“It is clear that events can occur that can quickly overwhelm the capabilities and resources of a single law enforcement agency within the state. It is recognized that situations could develop in which Montgomery County or the City of Baltimore would not have sufficient police resources immediately available, and would require assistance from the other jurisdiction to provide the prompt and effective professional Law Enforcement service required to meet the public's needs,” wrote Leggett, who also said the formal agreement wouldn’t incur costs to the county’s police department.
Correction: A previous version of this story reported the mutual aid agreement could be approved by the County Council Tuesday. That is incorrect. Tuesday's County Council action was to introduce the agreement.
