Council interviews nominee Mark Yamada for Montgomery County police chief; nominee lays out recruiting, wellness and civilian-response priorities

Montgomery County Council members on June 11 interviewed Assistant Chief Mark Yamada, the county executive's nominee to be the next police chief. The session included a formal introduction by Chief Administrative Officer Rich Maddalito, a lengthy question-and-answer period with multiple council members, and no final confirmation vote during the meeting.

Maddalito introduced Yamada as a long-serving department leader and urged the council to confirm him. "Assistant Chief Yamada has been with the police department for 36 years," Maddalito said, and noted the department's desire to build on recent reforms and innovations.

Yamada described a leadership style he called transformational and collaborative. "I am what this department needs," he said, and pledged to listen and build trust with officers and the community.

On staffing and recruitment, Yamada proposed a formal mentoring program to retain and promote officers, partnerships with educational institutions and an "athletes to officers" outreach effort targeted at smaller colleges. He outlined three priority initiatives: officer wellness (including a planned wellness room at the public service training academy), a juvenile assessment center to expand diversion and family services, and civilianization of some roles to free patrol resources.

Council members pressed Yamada on several operational issues. Several asked about data and records management; Yamada said completing an improved RMS (records management system) and better internal reporting would be a priority. Asked about racial equity, he acknowledged a low RESJ (racial equity and social justice) score and said he would reestablish a core team and write equity goals into the department's strategic plan.

On crisis response and diversion, Yamada expressed support for expanding civilian response and co-responder models in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, while acknowledging cross-agency capacity and leadership transitions could affect timing. He also defended the department's drone-as-first-responder pilot as an example of a technology the department rolled out with community outreach and said a six-month implementation update is forthcoming.

Yamada disclosed a potential conflict of interest: his son Ryan is a county employee in the department's special operations division. He said he would provide details to the council about how that is being handled.

Council members from across the chamber voiced support while also asking for specific data and follow-up: they sought a more formalized evaluation of the drone program, clearer performance metrics tied to the RMS upgrade, and a timeline for civilian-response expansion. The council president said the nomination would be taken up for a vote in due course, likely next week.

No formal confirmation occurred at the June 11 session; the council said it will take up the nomination at a future meeting and asked for follow-up materials on data systems, co-responder plans and conflict-management protocols.