Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s plan to consolidate emergency call service at the county’s parks would
lengthen
response time and signals a further overhaul of the police force, according to a growing chorus of critics.
“[The consolidation would] cause operational problems for the Park Police that are not worth the modest potential for financial savings,” said Francoise Carrier, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, which oversees area parks. “The proposed consolidation does not make sense and would not obtain the objectives identified by the County Council: to save money and create operational efficiencies.”
Leggett estimated that scrapping nine of the 11 employees in the Park Police Communication Unit would save the county more than $500,000 this year. The Montgomery County Police Department would answer calls made by park users.
With approval delayed, however, savings would amount to a small fraction of that projection. And Councilman Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, called it a “toss-up whether it would pass.”
Leggett proposed steeper cuts earlier this year — he said merging the police forces would save $2 million annually — but was thwarted by the council. The Park Police has about 90 officers who patrol one-tenth of county land.
Amid recent budget struggles, workforce redundancies have become a popular topic in the county. The Office of Legislative Oversight in coming weeks will release a report about the county’s structural budget deficit.
“There is a lot of talk about consolidation within the workforce,” Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said. “If we can’t do this, we can’t do anything.”
Park officials counter that such a move would be far from seamless, pointing to different job duties, union contracts and benefits packages.
But supporters call it an easy way to save money without affecting service.
“How do you not do this?” questioned Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large. “It’s about the Park Police not wanting to change anything. If people are worried about slower response times to low-priority incidents — I’m sorry, that shouldn’t stop us from doing this.”
