Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office assists MPD during officer shortage
Discussions about how other law enforcement agencies can help support MPD with rampant crime until more officers can be hired was one of the main topics at last night city council meeting. Councilwoman Julie Turner Beard introduced a resolution at Tuesday night’s meeting that would allow MPD to work with other law enforcement agencies like ALEA and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. They would assist MPD until the department is able to hire more officers. A representative for Mayor Steven Reed said he was working on a similar plan. We spoke with Chief Deputy Kevin Murphy with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office today to ask how that would work, and he told us that he and Sheriff Cunningham already have daily conversations with the leadership at MPD to see what their needs are, and he says when MPD has needed help in the past, sheriff’s deputies have always been there.
“We’ve reached out to them & told them that if they get backed up on calls or need assistance we will certainly respond with them and any assistance that they need we are particularly paying attention to the commercial areas restaurants, shopping centers, places that have a high volume of pedestrian activity,” said Chief Deputy Kevin Murphy. He said the sheriff has received some overtime funds from the Montgomery County Commission so they can put extra deputies out on the roads. He also told us that the sheriff’s office is almost fully staffed, so they are not experiencing the same shortage of officers as MPD. This means it would not be a huge burden or strain on their office to help.
