Republican Reardon Sullivan has been endorsed by the Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 in the primary election for County Executive. Increasing crime countywide has become a hot-button issue in the campaign for both of the major political parties. The police union criticized County leaders last year for defunding 27 police officer positions, amid a spike in armed carjackings that has continued through this year.
Amidst local and nationwide anger over police-involved deaths, and calls from some Democrats in 2020 to "defund the police," County Police Chief Marcus Jones said morale among his force was the lowest he had ever seen during his career here. Officer retirements are up, and recruitment of new officers has been difficult. Where applications once numbered in the thousands, the 2021 recruit class numbered only 14. This past January, the chief told the County Council that he is losing an average of 4 officers per month to retirements.
Reardon has zeroed in on this crisis in his campaign messaging, promising to "fully fund the police," and to "give the men and women of law enforcement the respect they deserve." He has also vowed to return Student Resource Officers to public schools, where several violent incidents including a shooting have led to calls for bringing SROs back to campuses. "We all know that crime is on the rise in the County," Sullivan said in a statement. "The time for change and new leadership is now. We need leaders that can bring common sense back to our local government."
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