ACP data subcommittee to meet MCPD to review two dozen databases

The Advisory Commission on Policing's (ACP) data subcommittee said it has compiled a list of roughly two dozen Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) databases and will seek a January meeting with MCPD IT staff and a representative from command to review what each system contains and how the databases interconnect.

"We came up with 2 dozen databases that we want to explore initially," a subcommittee member said, and the group agreed to send a set of questions to MCPD in advance so department staff would be prepared.

Members asked MCPD for data dictionaries — lists of data elements and field definitions — and for information about connection points between systems operated by other jurisdictions. A commissioner described the effort as iterative: the committee will ask initial questions, meet with MCPD, then follow up with more detailed queries.

The subcommittee also discussed inviting academic experts to meetings but noted scheduling constraints; some academics are available only during normal business hours, so the committee will coordinate times and may host multiple experts in a single session.

The data committee plans to coordinate the January meeting and circulate details to the full ACP once a date and time are confirmed. The goal, members said, is to better understand the data MCPD collects and how IT limitations or interfaces affect analysis and accountability.