In his new position with the school system, Police Chief Marcus Jones aims to clarify the role of police in schools.
Jones will retire from the county police department next week after nearly four decades. The community learned that Jones will continue working with the county in a different capacity — he was appointed Chief of Security and Compliance for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) . He will start his new job in July after retiring from the police department. He was appointed police chief in 2019 and joined the department in 1985.
In 2021, MCPS changed its School Resource Officer (SRO) program to instead have Community Engagement Officers (CEO) assigned to school clusters. They are not stationed inside any school or on campus but respond to school service calls.
There is still some confusion about the role of police in schools, Jones said. He plans to clarify that role, and also assess “how we could be more effective with our police officers.”
Marc Yamada, currently Assistant Chief with the police department, will lead the department after Jones retires. Yamada has worked for the county police department since 1988.
Yamada said now that MCPS has appointed a new superintendent, he will soon sit down with him “to figure this one out.” It will be a joint effort between police, MCPS and the community to figure out exactly what everyone wants and needs, he said.
County Executive Marc Elrich said there may be some small changes to the program. He said the program is being handled differently at different schools — “I would be a lot more comfortable if the schools had a uniform policy.”
