Editor's Blog

Takoma Park’s embattled police department has suffered another blow with the disclosure that a Prince George’s County grand jury has indicted a City officer on an assault charge. According to published reports, one of the City’s Finest stomped on a homeless man who was prone and being handcuffed by another officer. The assault fractured three of the victim’s ribs. This incident follows on the heels of other problems associated with the department in recent years, including a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of discrimination charges, involvement in an attack by a police canine against a homeless man, involvement in consumption of alcohol in a City community center, a CNN study showing that the City’s crime rate is among the highest in Montgomery County (three homicides in the first half of 2006, more than any other community in the county), and many years of unaccredited status.

This most recent incident of police brutality is the latest contribution to the body of evidence indicating that the City’s system for policing simply isn’t working. The City is the only community in Montgomery County which provides full police services in lieu of county-provided policing. This model results in the highest officer per capita ratio in the county by far and costs the City’s taxpayers about double what it would cost if police services were provided by the county. And yet, despite this huge expenditure and higher police density, the City’s police efforts produce a public safety environment far less secure and stable than that found in our neighboring communities, and the department’s track record of unacceptable behavior suggests a lack of discipline, proper officer candidate screening, and training.

Given the high cost of City police services and the poor outcome, it is past time to abandon the City’s model of self-policing. The City immediately should begin the process of transferring to the county responsibility for all police services in the City. County police officers are better trained, have greater resources at their disposal, and their services have already been paid for by the City’s taxpayers in their county property taxes. The City has a unique opportunity to begin this transfer as a result of the recent resignation of its police chief. The City should not fill this position but rather should transfer management of the police department to the county, followed by negotiations with the county to assume all policing responsibility in the City. Our property and personal safety are at stake and we should demand that our City political leadership take action to expedite a county takeover of police functions.

—Jack Carson
Takoma Park, MD