Montgomery County police are pushing more resources into patrol as the department deals with close to 200 vacancies. Assistant Chief David McBain explained the decision Tuesday. It comes after the department disbanded its dedicated DUI enforcement unit.
MCM reported Monday on the closure of the Alcohol Initiatives Unit. The timing has drawn added attention. A wrong-way crash on I-270 killed a mother and daughter Saturday night, hours after the department confirmed the unit’s closure. Police say the other driver was impaired. He has been arrested and charged.
Why the change now
McBain said the department has close to 200 officer vacancies right now. That shortage has pushed resources toward patrol, the officers who respond to calls for service every day.
“I certainly didn’t take this move lightly,” McBain said. He said he personally reached out to organizations like MADD to explain the decision before it became public.
The unit itself was smaller than many residents assumed, McBain said. It had three police officers, one corporal and one sergeant, five people total. It worked Wednesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., not around the clock.
The five officers moved to other roles within McBain’s own bureau. They went to traffic safety, Emergency Services, the county’s Crisis Response and Intervention Team, and a School Resource Officer vacancy. McBain didn’t pull additional officers out of patrol to fill those spots.
“I didn’t have to take more resources out of our Patrol Services Bureau to fill these spots,” McBain said. “I did it from within.”
DUI enforcement by the numbers
McBain shared data to show patrol officers, not the specialized unit, already handle most DUI enforcement in the county.
- Aug. 5-25, 2026 (MCPD’s latest reporting period): patrol made 42 DUI arrests; the Alcohol Initiatives Unit made 4
- Year-to-date 2026: patrol made 342 arrests; the unit made 95, about 78% from patrol
- 2025 comparison: patrol made 345 arrests; the unit made 147, about 70% from patrol
- Traffic stops rose from 34,490 in all of 2025 to 40,764 already in 2026
“We’re getting better,” McBain said. “We’re doing more with less.”
He said the department’s Holiday Task Force will run as usual from November through January. It typically includes 12 to 15 officers working alongside allied agencies, with a minimum of six per night. DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols will continue with Maryland Highway Safety, he said.
Is this part of a larger pattern?
MCM asked McBain whether DUI enforcement is the first specialized unit folded back into patrol, or whether residents should expect similar changes to other units.
“There are no plans for continued elimination of units right now,” McBain said.
