Montgomery County police detentions jumped more than 25 percent in 2024, while officer patrol staffing fell by nearly the same margin, according to a new data briefing presented Monday to the County Council’s Public Safety Committee. The report revealed ongoing challenges in recruitment, overtime spending, and community engagement—raising concerns about the department’s long-term sustainability.
Detentions Spike
Police detentions increased from 592 in 2023 to 746 in 2024. Male subjects made up the majority of detentions, with Caucasians also representing the largest portion, taking up 61 percent of all detentions. Individuals ages 18-25 and 26-35 took up nearly half of total detentions.
Police Staffing Drops, While Turnover Rises
The number of police positions has remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly from 1,281 officer positions in 2021 to 1,276 in 2024. However, the department saw a net loss of 128 officers due to turnover.
Patrol officers saw one of the sharpest decreases in the report, with a drop of more than 24 percent, from 732 in 2021 to 554 in 2024. The result was a surge in overtime for the patrol officers who remained, increasing by 117 percent, more than doubling in Wheaton, Germantown, and Gaithersburg-Montgomery Village.
“This trend raises long term concerns about workforce sustainability, officer burnout, and fiscal impacts,” said Susan Farag, Senior Budget and Policy Analyst. The fiscal year 2025 operating budget approved $13 million for police overtime, while the actual overtime added up to nearly $25 million. The FY26 budget has cut police overtime down to $11 million.
Police demographics reflected a 6 percent decline in African-American officers and a 12 percent dip of White officers. The percentage of Asian officers increased 7 percent and the percentage of Latino officers increased almost 5 percent. Although the number of female officers fell by 9 percent, their overall share of the force increased slightly, from 19.8 percent to just over 20 percent.
Meanwhile, fewer officers live in the county, with residency falling from 619 officers in 2021 to 504 in 2024.
Use of Force, Complaints Decrease
While reports of use of force rose slightly, from 1,722 to 1,766, complaints tied to those incidents dropped from 17 to just 3.
Civilian complaints with the police district remained stable since the implementation of the civilian-run Police Accountability Board in 2023. There were 112 complaints in both 2023 and 2024, the latter year being the first full year of the program.
“The department advises that it has not identified a specific trend or verified factors that may have caused the decrease in complaints. It does suggest that the effectiveness of de-escalation training, the professionalism of its officers and the impact of body-worn cameras used to verify complaints may have contributed to the decrease.”
However, the number of officers subject to discipline increased almost 40 percent, from 18 officers in 2023 to 25 in 2024. Fourteen were subject to suspension without pay and seven received written reprimands.
Police-Community Contact
Calls for services related to mental health, substance abuse and the unhoused also increased. Farag noted that data regarding these types of services are hard to analyze from a policing perspective, since there are numerous nonprofit organizations that also process these social health needs. Moreover, the total population of unhoused people significantly increased from 894 in 2023 to more than 1,500 in 2025. Mental health-related calls reduced slightly, “which may indicate the mental health needs, including crisis response, are being met before police are needed, or reflect the use of alternative response models,” said Farag.
