Study: Montgomery County investigative units need dozens more staff; consultants urge phased hires and civilian support

A consultant team presented a workload-based staffing review to the Montgomery County Public Safety Committee on March 16, 2026, concluding investigative functions reviewed require additional authorized positions and that a mix of sworn and professional (civilian) hires would improve timeliness and investigative capacity.

The Police Department and consultants emphasized the report should be considered an initial analytic step, not a finished departmental plan. "The report, therefore, should not be viewed as the conclusion," a department official said, noting the document arrived late in the review process and remains subject to internal commander and labor review.

Why it matters: consultants argued that modern investigations are more complex and time-consuming than older staffing models assume, and that under-resourcing can slow casework, reduce clearance rates and force officers into overtime and triage. That dynamic, they said, risks a two-tier response for victims: serious violent crimes get prioritized while property and financial crimes wait.

Key findings and recommendations: the consultant team said the investigative functions in scope "require an additional 41 authorized positions," described in the presentation as 24 sworn and 17 professional staff; presenters also referenced a broader recommended complement derived from the full workload analysis. The report used a three-part method (detailed time-sampling, a department-wide investigator survey and interviews/site visits) to estimate time-per-case and detective availability and then converted that workload into staffing needs.

Consultants gave section-level examples: the criminal investigations section was described as needing roughly 10 more positions under the study's assumptions; major crimes were described as needing at least eight additional positions; special victims (child abuse, sex crimes, domestic violence) were identified as needing roughly 18 more posts in order to meet victim-centered, trauma-informed investigatory expectations.

Patrol and CAD-based context: a companion CAD-based patrol analysis cited more than 156,000 calls for service in the year sampled, about 183,731 officer-hours tied to calls, and district-level imbalances (the 3rd district had notably higher volumes). The consultant presenting CAD findings reported a countywide mean emergency response time around 6.7 minutes (with percentile metrics shown in the slide deck) and longer nonemergency waits concentrated midday and in the afternoon.

Implementation and constraints: County and department leaders said the findings point to multi-year, phased implementation rather than a one-time hiring surge. They emphasized constraints including existing vacancies, academy throughput, and competing patrol demands: "If we don't have bodies going into the seats at the academy," a department official said, "it's hard to bolster detective ranks because patrol must still answer 911 calls." Presenters recommended exploring professional staff (crime analysts, civilian investigators, case-management specialists) to augment detectives and deliver rapid gains in capacity.

Next steps: district commanders were asked to review the consultant data and identify priority follow-ups. The department said it will continue internal review and work with the vendor to refine recommendations; presenters said commanders and assistant chiefs will vet feasibility and that a revised or final patrol analysis could be available in roughly three to four months.

Sources and quotations in this article are drawn from the March 16, 2026 Public Safety Committee work session transcript and on-the-record remarks from the consultant team and Montgomery County Police Department officials.