For Immediate Release: Friday, July 29, 2016
Montgomery Council committee to discuss
use of body cameras by police officers
Also on Monday, Aug. 1: Neighborhood Action Team,
positive youth development program, landlord-tenant obligations
ROCKVILLE, Md., July 29, 2016—The Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 1, will hold a worksession updating the use of body cameras by Montgomery County police officers.
The Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Marc Elrich and includes Councilmembers Tom Hucker and Sidney Katz, will meet in the Third Floor Conference Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be will be broadcast live on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon) and also will be streamed live through the Council web site at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .
County Police started a pilot program with 85 officers wearing body cameras. The program has since expanded to have 900 officers wearing the cameras. There are specific regulations as to when the cameras must be activated and for how long they must remain on after being activated. The worksession will cover a number of issues from experiences the department has encountered since the program was implemented.
The Public Safety Committee also will discuss secondary employment by County police officers. Secondary employment is governed both by County regulation as well as by collective bargaining agreement. All officers who wish to work a secondary job must first seek approval through the department. Officers are allowed to use most department-issued equipment while on secondary employment, including badge, gun, police radio and ballistic vest. Police are precluded from using their personal patrol vehicle for secondary employment, other than to drive to the employment site.
At 2 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers George Leventhal and Hans Riemer, will hold a worksession on Expedited Bill 25-16, that would require the County Executive to create a “Neighborhood Action Team” to address visual blight and other quality of life issues in the County.
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The Neighborhood Action Team would recommend actions to help improve neighborhoods in need of upgrades. The recommendations could include increasing enforcement of violations of County laws related to housing maintenance standards, parking and solid waste disposal. The lead sponsors of the bill creating the Neighborhood Action Team program are Councilmembers Leventhal and Nancy Navarro. Councilmembers Elrich and Roger Berliner are co-sponsors. The PHED Committee also will address Bill 19-15 regarding a number of landlord-tenant issues. The bill’s lead sponsor is Councilmember Elrich. Councilmember Navarro is a co-sponsor. This will be the committee’s third worksession on the bill. Discussion Monday will include provisions related to the voluntary rent guidelines and the publication of information collected through the rental housing survey. The committee also plans to discuss a provision of the bill that would prohibit rent "surcharges" for tenants going month-to-month at the conclusion of a lease term. The Public Safety Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Leventhal and includes Councilmembers Berliner and Craig Rice, will meet jointly at 9:30 a.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room to discuss County Executive Ike Leggett’s recommendation for supplemental appropriation and non-competitive contract awards to enhance Positive Youth Development program services to youth most at risk of gang violence. The Executive's recommendation totals $300,000, with $100,000 to be provided to Identity, Inc. and $200,000 to the Latin American Youth Center, Inc. The Executive states that "the enhancement to existing programs is necessary due to a recent rise in gang-related violence."
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