Lawmakers have filed a bill in the Maryland General Assembly that would grant Montgomery County the authority to merge their county and park police forces, a move long championed by County Executive Ike Leggett but widely resisted despite deep-rooted fiscal pains. If approved, it would lay the groundwork for Leggett to include the plan in his proposed budget to the County Council, which will attempt to tackle an expected $300 million shortfall in coming months. The county executive needs approval from the state because the Park Police serves both Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. “It makes perfect sense,” said Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield. “If we can’t do this, we can’t do any restructuring. I think there are a lot of people who are going to come around on this.”
Leggett’s office is studying millions of dollars worth of reorganizations and even eliminating county agencies, including scrapping commissions devoted to women’s and human rights issues.
