Advisory Commission on Policing votes to send follow-up letter to State's Attorney over disputed gun-recovery statistic

The Advisory Commission on Policing (ACP) voted March 9 to send a follow-up letter to Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy asking that his office explain the basis for a widely quoted statistic about guns recovered by law enforcement.

Sheree (speaker 9), who led the discussion, said the commission had waited six months for a clarification after McCarthy reportedly told a public forum that "80% of the guns recovered in Montgomery County came from consent searches at traffic stops," a figure members said does not match the MCPD numbers they reviewed. "You have stated this 80% whereas the numbers we have seen from MCPD say 1%," Sheree said, urging the commission to ask McCarthy for the timeframe and data source behind his claim.

Francisco (speaker 5) said ACP members depend on consistent data for public-safety discussions and that the commission should ask whether the attorney and the committee were "working under the wrong assumption." The chair (speaker 2) put a motion on the floor asking Francisco to draft the follow-up letter in consultation with Sherry and Christie; the motion was moved by Sheree and seconded by the chair and carried.

Under the motion, Francisco will prepare the draft and circulate it to Sherry and Christie before the commission forwards it to McCarthy's office. Members said the letter should specifically request the methodology, timeframe and the universe used to compute the 80% figure so the public discussion about policing rests on clear, shared facts.

The commission did not adopt or endorse any new policy in the session; its action was limited to requesting clarification and documentation from the state's attorney's office. The chair said the follow-up letter would be sent before the next ACP meeting.

Next steps: Francisco will draft the letter and share it with Sherry and Christie before seeking the commission's signature and mailing.