Police officers in Montgomery spent about 4% of their time responding to calls for violent crime, according to recent data.
The New York Times recently conducted a review of wide-ranging data from three police departments across the country. Montgomery County was one of the departments reviewed and the numbers indicate a surprising trend.
What share of policing is devoted to handling violent crime? Perhaps not as much as you might think. https://t.co/8rRUBa4Vku
— The Upshot (@UpshotNYT) June 21, 2020
About 50% of a police officer’s time this year in Montgomery County was spent responding to noncriminal calls or traffic issues. Only 0.1% of time was spent responding to a homicide.
However, the data does not include other duties of police officers, such as time spent investigating after an incident or administrative duties.
The review of police activity comes amid a national reckoning over police brutality and a continuing debate over “defunding the police”. President Trump signed an executive order last week incentivizing police reforms, but Democrats criticized the order as “toothless” and “miniscule.”
The data also shows that medical emergencies make up around 8% of time spent by police officers.
The Montgomery County Council has pledged to evaluate the police department and make necessary reforms. The Council is even considering hiring behavioral health professionals to serve alongside police in the county.
Council Considers Hiring Behavioral Health Professionals To Serve With Police
