The Montgomery County Police Department on Monday sought additional funds to create two or more Police Community Action Teams, which will help district patrols handle crime more efficiently.
“If I ruled the world, I would add 60 more patrol officers in our budget, and at least two PCAT teams in district stations,” Chief Thomas Manger told the County Council. “My hope is you’ll see that in the next years, we need to increase staffing to solve our problems.”
Manger said he would have put these teams in areas such as Silver Spring or Wheaton last year when reports of robberies and other crimes increased. They would not be tied to any district, he said.
Police are making an effort to recruit more officers,but Manger said the process has to be precise and selective so that the quality of the department does not suffer.
“We are trying to build smart. We don’t want to do random hiring that will slow and decrease our standards,” he said.
The County Council will vote on this proposal April 27, and Manger said he is in the process of finding a balance between the number of new patrol recruits and PCAT recruits.
