Montgomery County officials are “very hopeful” for a robust police recruitment class come June, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Earl Stoddard said Wednesday.
During a media briefing, Stoddard said there has been a nearly 25% increase in police applications since the county announced a plan to offer a $20,000 bonus to newly-sworn Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) recruits.
“We are very hopeful that we are going to have a very robust class in June. We’ll be using the next month or so to evaluate all those applications, make offers for slots on [that] class, so we’ll know at some point in May where we are at with regard to filling that class,” he said.
Last month, MCPD Chief Marcus Jones said the department had seen a rise in applications since the county made the announcement.
The hiring bonus would be paid to new recruits in stages, according to the county. The next recruitment class is scheduled to start in June.
The police department is down 129 officers as of February, per the county.
According to police, the application process for the June police academy closed on March 31.
About one month ago, 29 men and women, ranging in age from 21 to 36 years, were sworn in as police officers and deputy sheriffs at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville.
