Montgomery County’s Advisory Commission on Policing briefed the County Council Public Safety Committee on Dec. 1 about its recent work and recommendations, including changes to police data reporting, updates to use-of-force and media-relations policies, and a proposal for a delayed, redacted public feed of encrypted MCPD dispatch communications.

The commission, chaired by Brian Bellamy, said it was created by the County Council in 2019 to advise on policing matters and now operates through three subcommittees—implementation, safety and public schools, and data—that meet regularly to review reforms and produce recommendations. "By statute, the purpose of the ACP is to advise the county council on policing matters," Bellamy told the committee, summarizing the commission’s mission and recent activity.

Why it matters: commissioners said clearer, more accessible data will help policymakers and the public evaluate police practices and outcomes, and that foundational policies should provide concrete guidance for officers. The commission recommended moving the mandatory police-reporting deadline in local code (section 35 6 a c) from Feb. 1 to April, consolidating multiple departmental reports, and reporting racial and ethnic data in categories consistent with the census and Maryland’s race-based traffic-stop dashboard so different reports can be compared.

Bellamy described the data committee’s review of more than 300 entries in the county’s implementation dashboard and said the committee is preparing findings under the Maryland Police Accountability Act to discuss with MCPD before sending formal recommendations to the council. "The dashboard was created to advance transparency and accountability," he said, adding the data committee wants dashboards and a data dictionary to make raw statistics intelligible to policymakers and the public.

On departmental policy, the commission urged revisions to the department mission and use-of-force guidance to emphasize de-escalation, clearer expectations for judgment in the field, and an explicit duty for officers to intervene when another officer’s use of force exceeds what is objectively reasonable. The commission also recommended limiting the use of mugshots in public releases and revising media-relations guidance to avoid unnecessary bias.

The commission raised concerns about Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) encryption of radio dispatch communications and recommended the council fund a delayed, redacted feed to preserve press and public access while addressing officer safety and privacy. "We understand the rationale for encryption, but we believe that it is not in the best interest of the police department or the public for MCPD to be the only source of information regarding its practices," Bellamy said. He and other commissioners urged that any redaction policy be clear and that a delayed feed could address real-time safety risks without imposing continuous redaction costs.

Councilmembers pressed commissioners for specifics about harms from unredacted feeds and the likely costs of redaction versus delay. Councilmember Mink asked whether there are documented local incidents caused by public scanner availability and underlined concerns about censorship and trust if redaction is implemented without clear justification. Commissioners said they would gather jurisdictional examples and cost estimates.

Staff commitments and next steps: senior budget and policy analyst Susan Farrag said staff will follow up with information on how other jurisdictions handle encryption and interoperability (including D.C.), how much redaction or delayed-feed solutions cost, and what operational tradeoffs each approach poses. The commission also plans two public forums in 2026 and recommended the council consider resources—such as funding for an independent survey or dashboard improvements—to support ACP work and onboarding for new commissioners.

The County Council Public Safety Committee did not take a formal vote during the session. Committee members thanked the commission and staff for the presentation; staff said they will provide requested follow-up information. The meeting was adjourned.