WASHINGTON 鈥� Like many area police agencies, the Montgomery County Police Department sent a contingent of officers to Baltimore on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday nights. They鈥檒l also be back to assist over the weekend.
Police Chief Tom Manger says for many of the officers on the Montgomery County force, the crowd control in Baltimore 鈥渕ay have been the most intense, the most dangerous assignment that they have perhaps ever had in their career.鈥�
Manger鈥檚 issued a newsletter to the officers under his command to tell them he鈥檚 proud of them 鈥渇or the courage, the restraint, the professionalism that not only my officers showed, but police in general showed鈥� in dealing with the crowds who, at times, pelted police with rocks, bottles and bricks.
On the flip side, Manger says, some things may have been lost in the coverage of Monday night鈥檚 violence: 鈥淚f you talked to my cops, especially on Tuesday, most of the people that they dealt with 鈥� all day 鈥� were folks that were out there trying to rebuild their neighborhood, trying to keep the peace.鈥�
Manger also says many of those people worked to calm crowds when tensions rose. Some, Manger says, 鈥渁ctually tried to be a buffer between those folks that were throwing the rocks at the police.鈥�
Manger says he grew up in Baltimore, but is quick to add his family moved from the city when he was a teenager. Asked to analyze the relations between the Baltimore City Police Department and the public, Manger says, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I can tell you what went wrong there.鈥� He adds, 鈥渇or many police departments, they鈥檙e paying for the sins of their fathers and their grandfathers.鈥�
Manger doesn鈥檛 mention former mayor Martin O鈥橫alley by name, but refers to O鈥橫alley鈥檚 tenure, during which aggressive policing resulted in statistics that showed dramatic drops in crime. Referring to the policing methods used during O鈥橫alley鈥檚 administration as mayor, Manger says, 鈥渟ome strategies have resulted in lower crime rates, but I wonder sometimes, what impact did it have on the relationship with the community?鈥�
It鈥檚 Manger鈥檚 belief that, as bad as some community-police relations are now 鈥� and he doesn鈥檛 dismiss the deterioration of those relations in some communities 鈥� he says they were far worse in the past, when there were no cellphones to record misconduct. Montgomery County is planning a pilot program to equip police with body cameras, and Manger says he鈥檒l be among those to wear one.
As to best practices for policing, Manger says there鈥檚 a difference between being effective and being aggressive.
鈥淥bviously, we want to keep our neighborhoods safe, but you can鈥檛 do it at the expense of your relationship with a particular neighborhood or community,鈥� he says.
蜜桃视频app’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.聽
