Montgomery County will resume indoor dining at 25% capacity beginning Sunday, Feb. 14 at 7 a.m. The county council voted 7-2 on Tuesday to approve County Executive Marc Elrich’s executive order to make the change. Customers are limited to a 90-minute indoor dining period and on-site alcohol consumption must stop at 10 p.m. According to […]
In Maryland s largest suburb, an ambitious police overhaul faces roadblocks
Rebecca Tan and Dan Morse, The Washington Post
Feb. 6, 2021
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1of3Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Marcus Jones, left, with interim Prince George s County, Md., police chief Hector Velez during a news conference after a Montgomery County police detective was shot in November.Washington Post photo by Toni L. Sandys.Show MoreShow Less
2of3Protesters in Clarksburg, Md., after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody last year.Washington Post photo by Michael S. Williamson.Show MoreShow Less
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After the killing of George Floyd last year, residents of Maryland s Montgomery County held more than 120 protests against police violence, joining communities across the country in a wave of civil unrest not seen since the 1960s.
Council Holds Public Hearing Thursday on Fate of School Resource Officers
A virtual public hearing concerning whether to prohibit the Montgomery County Police Department from having officers in public schools is set for Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
Councilmembers Will Jawando and Hans Riemer sponsored the bill that calls for the removal of school resource officers (SRO). There are 23 such officers stationed in county schools.
Previously, Montgomery County Public Schools’ high school principals told the Board of Education that they were in unanimous support of keeping the officers in their schools.
In a news release, two high school students announced their support for ending the SRO program. Lauren Payne, a student at Richard Montgomery High School, and Avery Smedley, who attends Albert Einstein High School, likened the issue to the national call for police reform.
County, state lawmakers’ battle over school resource officers intensifies
Council considering dueling legislation; state bills propose eliminating SROs, redirecting funding
February 2, 2021 | 6:35 pm
A community member holds a sign calling for an investment in community services rather than police at a recent protest in Gaithersburg. At the protest, attendees called for an end to the MCPS school resource officer program.
File photo
A battle among state and local lawmakers about the future of police stationed in schools is intensifying, with County Council members now considering dueling legislation.
The issue is gaining traction statewide, too. Two state lawmakers from Montgomery County are sponsoring bills that would prohibit police officers from being stationed in schools across Maryland and redirect state money that would have funded the program.
Restorative justice is a smarter way to address misbehavior By Hanan Miles, Kanayo Duru and Meghan Salmela |
January 30, 2021 | 4:52 am
All children misbehave. This is common knowledge.
So why were 83% of the student arrests in Montgomery County Public Schools over the last three years Black and Hispanic students? To answer that question, we must examine MCPS’ longstanding and discriminatory Student Resource Officer (SRO) Program.
MCPS has a long history with SROs.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton issued a nationwide federal grant for those police positions following multiple school shootings that year.
The program was officially initiated in Montgomery County in 2002, three years after the Columbine shooting. It was known as the Educational Facilities Officers program.