The Advisory Commission on Policing voted unanimously to send a data-subcommittee letter to the County Council asking that Montgomery County Police Department reporting be consolidated, the deadline for the department's statistical report be moved to April 15, and that demographic data be reported in a uniform, disaggregated format.

The commission's data subcommittee chair, Sonny, said the recommendation would "consolidate some of its mandatory reporting, especially specifically, the reporting that is now public" and push the statistical-report deadline to April 15 so MCPD "have more time to make sure that the data they provide is correct." Francisco, who helped draft the committee's recommendation, said the change was meant to reduce conflicting figures across reports and to give the public and council clearer information.

The committee also asked the council to reconsider a standing requirement that MCPD conduct an annual community survey. The data subcommittee recommended either having a third party conduct the survey or folding relevant questions into the county's annual livability/community survey. "We don't think that MCPD should be put in the position to conduct surveys on how well it gets along with the community," Francisco said, adding that inclusion in the county survey would be a "very low cost alternative." Sherry and others pressed for clarity about whether the reporting changes would drop information; Francisco responded that the subcommittee is asking to add demographic detail, not remove material facts.

Commissioners debated whether to describe the council's prior survey requirement as an "unfunded mandate." Henry and others argued the term reflected reality; Sherry and other members worried the label is politically loaded. The group agreed on edited, factual language instead. Francisco said the letter would state that "no funding has been provided for this survey for the fiscal years 2024 through 2026," rather than labeling the requirement an unfunded mandate. The commission then approved a motion to send the letter with that edit. Francisco moved the motion and it was seconded; the meeting chair called for the vote and the motion passed unanimously among members present.

The subcommittee recommendations also include: requiring MCPD to publish disaggregated demographic data on crime victims where available; asking MCPD to standardize how it reports demographic fields to avoid "comparing apples to oranges" across different reports; and proposing that the council eliminate or revise a separate annual MCPD survey requirement found in the county code so the information can be consolidated.

The commission recorded a brief history of prior budget attempts: Susan noted that a county executive's recommended operating budget once included $100,000 for the survey but the council cut that line during reconciliation and the funding has not reappeared in subsequent executive recommendations. The data subcommittee said it would add that factual history to the letter.

Next steps: the commission will forward the edited letter to the council and include the subcommittee's recommendations and funding context for council consideration.