Independent reviews say Montgomery County police need more investigators, civilians and better data systems

Montgomery County— Consultants and police officials told the Public Safety Committee on March 16 that the countypolice department faces measurable staffing shortfalls in investigative units and uneven patrol workloads that will require phased hiring, more professional (non-sworn) staff and improved records systems to address.

PFM, a firm retained to conduct a workload-based study of investigative functions, presented findings that the units within scope require an additional 41 authorized positions: 24 sworn and 17 professional staff. That shortfall, combined with existing vacancies, produces what consultants described as a total gap of 91 positions relative to the departmentApril 2025 fill levels.

"The punchline on our report is that the investigative functions that were part of the scope require an additional 41 authorized positions," said Seth Williams, who leads PFM's law enforcement practice, explaining that the total shortfall accounts for both newly recommended positions and previously vacant slots.

Why it matters: PFM and departmental leaders said understaffed investigative units stretch detectives, delay investigations, reduce clearance rates for property and financial crimes and put disproportionate burden on victims and on-call staff. PFM told the committee its analysis combined 60-day logbooks, a bureau-wide survey and interviews with investigators to estimate time per case and overall detective availability (PFM estimated investigators have about 1,283 straight-time hours per year available for casework).

Unit-level examples: Ron Serpass, a PFM analyst, identified specific needs the study quantified: the Criminal Investigations Division needed about 10 additional positions (including detectives, sergeants and a lieutenant), Major Crimes about eight, Special Victims roughly eight (emphasizing trauma-informed work), and the criminal enterprise unit roughly 14 more staff. In PFM's example of the Auto Crimes Enforcement section, the team estimated 789 annual cases, 16 detective hours per case on average and a resulting need for 10 full-time detectives for that section alone.

Method and limits: PFM emphasized limitations of the investigative analysis: logbooks capture a 60-day window and surveys carry recall bias, so the model uses multiple modalities to balance limitations. The study is intended as an evolving tool that departments can update as case volumes and policies change.

Patrol findings and data-driven follow-up: Separately, a Corona Solutions patrol analysis based on one year of CAD (computer-aided dispatch) data found uneven workload across the countywith the 3rd District (Silver Spring) showing the highest calls for service and work hours and the 1st District the lowest. Countywide totals cited by patrol staff: roughly 156,000 calls for service translating to about 183,731 officer hours; a county mean emergency response time of 6.7 minutes; and non-emergency waits that can peak (for example, certain retail locations and hospital guard details were identified as high consumers of patrol time, notably Shady Grove Hospital).

Recommendations and next steps: PFM urged a phased hiring approach tied to budget and training realities, investment in professional staff to free detectives for investigative work, and improved records and case-management systems. Patrol leaders said a forthcoming analytic phase for the patrol study will explore potential boundary changes, shift adjustments and targeted deployment to chronic retail-theft sites; the department expects a final patrol report in three to four months and will present follow-up recommendations for feasibility.

Questions from the committee focused on where new hires would come from and on retention measures. Assistant Chief Willie Parker Lone said vacancies are an ongoing challenge—he reported 47 vacancies in April 2025 and 58 at the time of the work session—and described limits to moving specialized investigators between units because of required skills. Committee members and officials discussed retention incentives such as expanding DROP/retirement incentives and recruiting retired officers as short-term capacity measures.

The county asked PFM and department leaders to return with a focused update after internal review and after the patrol analysis completes its analytic phase. The committee also pressed for realistic timelines on hiring and implementation tied to the county's FY27 budget planning.