MoCo council results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus, is MoCo doomed with the way the primaries are turning out for county council? It looks like the county is on the fast track to becoming San Francisco at this rate. What should we expect? More crime? Decreasing quality of schools? Increasing taxes?

Very worried at the moment.

? Not as bad as all that, but if you think it is, moving is a lot easier than trying to move mountains.

DP, yea, after the kids are done with school (4 more years), we are moving.

To where?

Short term, not sure. I have been looking around.

Longer term, to Europe where my spouse has citizenship.

I don't mind paying taxes if it actually goes towards good programs, which includes keeping the community safe. I do mind paying taxes for stupidity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus, is MoCo doomed with the way the primaries are turning out for county council? It looks like the county is on the fast track to becoming San Francisco at this rate. What should we expect? More crime? Decreasing quality of schools? Increasing taxes?

Very worried at the moment.

? Not as bad as all that, but if you think it is, moving is a lot easier than trying to move mountains.

DP, yea, after the kids are done with school (4 more years), we are moving.

To where?

Short term, not sure. I have been looking around.

Longer term, to Europe where my spouse has citizenship.

I don't mind paying taxes if it actually goes towards good programs, which includes keeping the community safe. I do mind paying taxes for stupidity.

in starting to think this country is hopeless. They could quadruple per pupil spending And it wouldn’t make educational outcomes better. I think the left only cares about total power by any means either indoctrination or nobody learning And being reliant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus, is MoCo doomed with the way the primaries are turning out for county council? It looks like the county is on the fast track to becoming San Francisco at this rate. What should we expect? More crime? Decreasing quality of schools? Increasing taxes?

Very worried at the moment.

? Not as bad as all that, but if you think it is, moving is a lot easier than trying to move mountains.

DP, yea, after the kids are done with school (4 more years), we are moving.

To where?

Short term, not sure. I have been looking around.

Longer term, to Europe where my spouse has citizenship.

I don't mind paying taxes if it actually goes towards good programs, which includes keeping the community safe. I do mind paying taxes for stupidity.

in starting to think this country is hopeless. They could quadruple per pupil spending And it wouldn’t make educational outcomes better. I think the left only cares about total power by any means either indoctrination or nobody learning And being reliant

We are slowly but surely heading towards DC. More spending for worse outcomes.

In the meantime, kids with IEPs don’t get the support they need and kids who need advanced instruction are not getting it. But at least below average students don’t feel bad about themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I know is that the number of shooting, assualts, and crime overall are exploding in areas like Silver Spring.

And the county just voted to elect in clowns who want to reduce police presence? MoCo is doomed to becoming Baltimore. Wait until the wealthy flee the area for greener pastures and take their taxes with them.

The decline of MoCo is going to be exponential.

Baltimore is superior to Montgomery County.

Towson has 3 universities and is a really cool area and then in town they have Hopkins. Montgomery County has the Universities at Shady Grove.

Baltimore has Roland Park and Mt. Washington. Montgomery County has Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Potomac.

Baltimore has the Inner Harbor, Fells Point and Canton. Montgomery County has…. downtown Silver Spring, downtown Bethesda and Pike and Rose?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

PP here. I did the research for you. It was easy to do since there is transparency within MCPD when there is a use of force.
That event happened in 2019 in Aspen Hill. The police officer involved was charged and convicted of 2nd degree assault. I suppose that means to us that the system works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

If I was attacked and robbed by a Black man, should I assume all Black men are violent criminals? You don't want cops to profile black people but you have no problem profiling all cops?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

Sure. See my comment above. That police officer was charged. I don't know what else you would expect MCPD to do. MCPD disciplined that officer in 2019, long before the current call for police reform. So it seems to me that this is actually an example of what MCPD is doing well.

I'm a teacher. I once worked with another teacher who sexually assaulted a student. Nobody came after ME, suggesting that all teachers are child molesters. The same logic applies here. This officer performed in a despicable manner. He doesn't represent all officers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Imagine thinking punishing violent crime is living in a police state. You need help for your paranoia.

You should look into the Colorado star program if you actually want to understand

I’m aware of that and it’s a good program, but ask (sincerely) if it is needed in Montgomery County. The STAR program responds “to low risk calls where individuals are not in imminent risk. STAR deals with low level behavioral health crises and issues that arise from public health needs and poverty. Some examples are, trespass calls, welfare checks, intoxicated parties and mental health crisis.” Our MCPD already does a remarkably good job of that, as evidenced by the statistics provided above. Why break what isn’t broken? The current council, to keep this thread on track, used national data to inform local decisions. We have always had a premier police force, one that was used as a model for other jurisdictions. It’s time to respect what we had (and have) instead of intentionally destroying it in the name of “progress.”

We have it. We have long had mobile crisis teams that respond to mental health crises. They generally go with police because they often represent a danger to civilian responders. The county has been working on a non-police response protocol, with new teams called MCOT - Mobile Crisis and Outreach Team. They are putting protocols in place that help protect the civilian responders. Like only showing up to buildings that already have some sort of security. It's modeled after Cahoots in Eugene, Oregon. The roll out is slow because the current mobile crisis teams know it can be very dangerous. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/03/23/md-stabbing-raises-mental-care-concerns/cc0bd2d5-67ef-45b0-a238-fcfd822c69df/

But yes, I agree with you. Council likes to use national data as its bible when it comes to what should be done here. It should be informative, but people need to recognize it's not determinative. Pilot programs are a great way to test these programs, here in our own communities, to see if they actually work or not. But Elrich loves to roll them out county-wide, efficacy and cost be damned. And the Council goes along with him. Because it fits the political narrative that makes everyone feel good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

Can I say that this was not that bad? Sure he got the knee on the head and roughed up a little. But there were no blows thrown. I think prosecution here was probably overkill and personnel action (and maybe a small settlement) was probably the correct course of action.

The reality is that there are so few incidents of actual police misconduct in this county that these things get blown out of proportion by a hyperactive progressive activist community.

Sure one incident is one too many. But we should also feel good that it is only one incident.

I have always found the police in Montgomery County to be very professional, particularly compared to MPD (lazy, jerks) and Fairfax (aggressive cowboys). I would like it if we could keep it this way and I find that the dialogue around policing in this county is really overblown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

Can I say that this was not that bad? Sure he got the knee on the head and roughed up a little. But there were no blows thrown. I think prosecution here was probably overkill and personnel action (and maybe a small settlement) was probably the correct course of action.

The reality is that there are so few incidents of actual police misconduct in this county that these things get blown out of proportion by a hyperactive progressive activist community.

Sure one incident is one too many. But we should also feel good that it is only one incident.

I have always found the police in Montgomery County to be very professional, particularly compared to MPD (lazy, jerks) and Fairfax (aggressive cowboys). I would like it if we could keep it this way and I find that the dialogue around policing in this county is really overblown.

I absolutely agree. Realistically, police are going to have to use force. It has already been shown on this thread that MCPD uses it responsibly, so this dialogue isn't really necessary.

I just hope that the new council takes a logical approach when they deal with MCPD instead of viewing them as a problem to be solved. The truth is that we have a strong department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I have always found the police in Montgomery County to be very professional, particularly compared to MPD (lazy, jerks) and Fairfax (aggressive cowboys). I would like it if we could keep it this way and I find that the dialogue around policing in this county is really overblown.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

If I was attacked and robbed by a Black man, should I assume all Black men are violent criminals? You don't want cops to profile black people but you have no problem profiling all cops?

I'm not in charge of black men. I am in charge of police in my community. I'm glad we have cell phones now, and can see how they really behave. We need an overhaul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best hope is opposing blocks that result in something like this.

The “reasonable block”:
- Balcombe
- Sayles
- Katz
- Friedson
- Albornoz

The “worrying block”:
- Stewart
- Mink
- Jawando
- Fani Gonzalez
- Glass

The “tie breaker”:
- Luedtke

I’m definitely concerned about the “worrying block.” Kate Stewart’s website says she wants to work to fully implement the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force recommendations. The police are already so short-staffed, and that report calls for further reductions. Specifically, a 50% reduction in force is suggested for Wheaton and Silver Spring, two districts experiencing an increase in crime. I know she’ll have support on this council, so I worry about how this will affect people living in those districts AND how it will affect remaining officers.

Sounds like a disaster.

yea, let's reduce the police force in high crime areas. That'll teach those criminals. Or maybe progressives think that the criminals will feel less threatened so they'll be less likely to commit a crime? I honestly don't understand how their mind works.

I'll explain. I don't want to live in a police state. Society can't be run by police. We need to improve society to take care of the problems causing all this crime. We can't just continue pumping out criminals and pumping out police. That's not a decent, intelligent, thought-out solution, and not the kind of society I want to live in. Also not the kind of society we used to have. Police are not the answer.

Where do police fit in? We can provide better mental health services, improve k-12 education, increase access to health care, work toward more affordable housing… we can do all of this, and there will still be crime. It’s very naive to assume otherwise. What then? Who responds? You say police aren’t the answer, but be logical. Sometimes they are the ONLY answer. I assume you live somewhere with low crime. I don’t. I feel better with police in my neighborhood. I’m well aware many of my neighbors do, as well. Supporting police is not equal to calling for a police state. (Who is actually calling for that anyway? That’s simply hyperbole. We just want elected officials to work WITH police instead of making the job so undesirable that we can’t even hire any, which is where we are.)

We need police who work WITH the community, too. The police are bizarre -- they're like a military force. I do live in a relatively safe neighborhood, and I used to call the police when I saw issues, but now I don't. Now I really have to ask myself if calling the police will make things better or just end in someone being killed.

We need to change the way the police are trained. They're trained to make hair-trigger decisions as if each interaction is a matter of life or death. I get that that is true sometimes, but not all the time. Common sense goes a long way.

We have a societal problem. More police won't solve it.

Yes, we have a societal problem. Yes, police are part of the solution. Your viewpoint, which comes dangerously close to "all cops are bad," actually perpetuates much of the problem. The truth is, what you say is not backed up by FACT. Most police interactions result in absolutely no use of force. Let's use MCPD data instead of national data, which pays respect to the fact we have a highly-trained and well-regarded department. (Well, it isn't well-regarded by some council members.) Here's 2021 data:

"In 2021, there were 593 incidents where some type of force was used in response to resistance reported, an increase of 25% from 2020. That means force was used by officers in 0.32 percent of the total dispatched calls for service. In 92 percent of incidents, officers used no protective instruments or weapons. Instead, officers used only their hands while attempting to place a subject in custody or otherwise gain control of them. Similarly, this was the most common type of force used against our officers by subjects, in a year in which the number of assaults on officers increased by 13 percent." It seems as if our police use A LOT of common sense.
Source: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Files/Annual-Reports/UseOfForce/2021%20MCPD%20Use%20of%20Force%20Report.pdf

The simple truth is that calling the police, especially MCPD, will NOT "just end in someone being killed." It's this faulty thinking that perpetuates the social media-driven attack on police and it is unfair to the men and women who do the job honorably. There are many, and I recommend you AND the new council should go and meet them. I also recommend you look into how they are trained. Fortunately, MCPD has a Citizen's Academy for which you can apply. It will give you insight into the profession and you can feel more comfortable with the police we have in this county. We need fewer people who are willing to go on the attack. You admit you live in a safe area, so I'm guessing you don't feel the need for them as much as some of us do. We would appreciate more support when it comes to public safety.

LOL, no, my attitude does not perpetuate much of the problem. I live in Montgomery County. Even if police interaction doesn't end in someone being killed, there are plenty of interactions with police that I find disturbing -- like that 19 year old who had his head covered in his own shirt and then banged against the cement repeatedly, while handcuffed, while other officers just stood there looking bored. Frankly, I don't want my society to operate like that. I don't approve of people who behave like that. I certainly don't respect them. No one that dead to others should be a police officer -- and there are obviously plenty like them, otherwise these other police would have been reacting instead of just standing there like, ho hum. I expect more of the police than the type of officers we have. Sorry.

You'll need to provide some actual proof, like I did above, for any of this to be credible and convincing. Certainly that anecdote you wrote about would be one of the documented uses of force, so you should be able to find proof for us. Also, there are 1,300 officers in MCPD. (Well, that's not true. We've had a TON of people resign because of working conditions, so we're below that number.) If you are going to hold over 1,000 people accountable for vague beliefs, then there is no helping you. You say there are "plenty of them," but I am willing to bet you've never attended a MCPD ride-along or gone to a MCPD-sponsored event. You see, MCPD actually does a lot of community policing. People who live within the community (like me) attend them, so we have a different perception of the police than what social media tells us to believe.

You "expect more," yet you don't even know what you have.

Here you go. Look at all the other offices milling around, bored. Disgusting.

Sure. See my comment above. That police officer was charged. I don't know what else you would expect MCPD to do. MCPD disciplined that officer in 2019, long before the current call for police reform. So it seems to me that this is actually an example of what MCPD is doing well.

I'm a teacher. I once worked with another teacher who sexually assaulted a student. Nobody came after ME, suggesting that all teachers are child molesters. The same logic applies here. This officer performed in a despicable manner. He doesn't represent all officers.

How about if many more teachers are found to be sexually assaulting students -- would you still shrug h your shoulders and say, well I'm not doing that? We need reform. Face it. The sentiment is sweeping the country.