Breaking from tradition, the Montgomery County Council is formally asking County Executive Marc Elrich to be transparent and solicit input from residents as he selects a new police chief.
While it is unusual for the council to get involved early in the selection process for top department heads appointed by the county executive, at-large council member Will Jawando and his eight colleagues sent a letter to Elrich to “encourage the kind of transparency and community input that will help build bridges and create the relationships” between police and the community.
Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, who has headed the 1,200-member force for 15 years, is retiring next month.
“As he moves on, we believe there is a unique opportunity to strengthen the relationship between county residents and the Montgomery County Police Department,” Jawando wrote in the letter dated Tuesday.
“The relationship between the police and the community is extremely important, and as you’ve seen nationwide and even here in Montgomery County, that relationship is strained,” Jawando said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re in a new era of policing, whether it’s the killing of unarmed black men and women or the proportion of the arrests we see.”
County police released its annual reports for 2018 on Tuesday, including information about the use of force. About 55 percent of the subjects involved in reported use-of-force cases were African American, and more than 70 percent were people of color. African Americans make up less than 20 percent of the county’s population.
“We have serious issues, and that leads to distrust and mistrust, in communities of color and the police,” Jawando said. “That doesn’t help either side. That doesn’t help the police do their job and it doesn’t help the communities feel safe.”
Jawando introduced a bill in January to require independent investigations following officer-involved deaths following the death of Robert Lawrence White in June 2018. The police department conducted an internal investigation and forwarded the findings to Howard County prosecutors based on the current agreement between the municipalities, but Jawando wants the process to be done without county involvement.
The letter points to Baltimore County’s ongoing search for a police chief, which has included two town hall events to gather public input, a published timeline of the process and an interview panel featuring government representatives, residents and a member of a local victims rights group.
In an interview Wednesday, Elrich said a “wide variety of people” will be involved in the selection process, which will be similar to Baltimore County’s approach. He added that the county is now a minority majority, and finding a minority or female candidate would good, but he would not “pre-narrow” the search.
Input from residents will be closely considered so the community feels it’s involved in the process, Elrich said.
Community policing should be the focus of any potential candidate, Jawando said, and he plans to speak with them about adjusting the incentive structure from arrest totals to resident engagement. He added a change in this mindset would greatly improve the relationship between citizens and police.
“There are issues that are engrained, and it’s not just unique to us in Montgomery County,” Jawando said. “This is a problem in policing nationwide, and we have an opportunity like we do in so many other areas to lead here in Montgomery County and be an example.”
Manger announced his retirement in January, less than two months after Elrich took office. He is expected to be involved in selecting his replacement. There will be a national search, and then the chosen candidate will be reviewed by the council. The department is the county’s primary law-enforcement agency.
Elrich said he will talk with representatives from nearby jurisdictions to learn more about their search procedures, ensuring the county will find the best possible candidate.
“This is a big deal,” Elrich said.
