Montgomery County police department employees have been using a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program to take flight lessons for at least the last three years — long before the police department had anything to fly, county records show.
The county has paid more than $21,000 to Advanced Helicopter Concepts in Frederick, Md., for “basic tactical flight training” and other courses. The county paid up to $1,947 per course, records show, though the tuition assistance program is currently capped at $1,730 a year per employee. The head of the tuition assistance program did not respond to requests for comment.
The county also paid nearly $7,000 to two flight companies for other training for police department employees, including a “private pilot certification” course, records show.
The police department took ownership of three former Army helicopters this summer as part of an effort to start a new helicopter division. But whether the copters will get off the ground is in limbo as County Executive Ike Leggett and the County Council square off over budget issues.
Leggett and the police department said they could get the helicopters — two working and one for spare parts — for free and use them for two years without relying on tax dollars. Instead, they said they would use a federal grant and money from a drug-asset forfeiture fund.
But County Council members said the county was in dire financial straits and shouldn’t start a helicopter program it won’t be able to afford to maintain after two years.
The debate has heated up at times, with Leggett accusing opponents of the program of “burying their heads in the sand” and council members pressing for more control over the police funding.
Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, D-at large, said she intends to introduce a bill that would give the council more oversight over the drug-asset forfeiture fund.
Trachtenberg said it was “very problematic” that money from the tuition assistance fund has been used for police department employees to take flight lessons.
“I don’t see that as a good investment,” she said.
The tuition assistance program has come under fire since Sheriff Raymond Kight’s office started investigating in July whether a training company used money from the program to sell guns to county employees at steep discounts. The county attorney and the inspector general also are investigating.
Council members have since expressed concern that there is little oversight over which courses are approved. The tuition assistance program is supposed to help employees earn a degree that will help them in their current or future county job, or provide employees with useful training related to their work.
