County restores six gang‑unit positions after court ruling raises investigative workload

The Montgomery County Council voted unanimously on May 12 to restore six vacant positions in the Montgomery County Police Department—s gang unit to the FY26 recommended budget after a recent circuit court ruling increased the unit—s validation and court preparation workload.

The action came after the Public Safety Committee chair said the committee initially placed the eliminations on the reconciliation list but, following briefings from police leaders, moved to reverse that recommendation. "The gang validation requires investigators from the gang unit to compile all relevant information," Chief Hamada said, adding that "each validation packet takes approximately 80 hours of work for one detective." He said the recent ruling also requires an additional technical or peer reviewer for validation packets and that investigators assigned to…