Acting Chief Of Police Hoping For Permanent Top Cop Job

SILVER SPRING, MD — Marcus Jones, Montgomery County's acting chief of police, wants his title as top cop to be permanent.

According to WTOP, Jones lobbied for the job and expressed his goals and concerns for the department on Thursday.

"I love this community," Jones said. "I think I have the transformational style leadership to continue to lead the men and women of this great county."

Jones is the force's second interim police chief after Thomas Manger retired back in April. Assistant Chief Russell E. Hamill III — a former commander of the MCPD's Bethesda district — was the first acting chief of police. However, in May, Hamill left the force to become Laurel's chief of police.

Jones, who is black, took over around the time the department was investigating an officer who used a racial slur while talking to black men. The video, which has been circulating online, was captured during an interaction between officers and four men at the McDonald's in Silver Spring.

In response to this video, community activists held a rally, march, and press conference in May.

This isn't the first time the force's procedures or interactions with residents have sparked controversy.

In June of 2018, 41-year-old Robert Lawrence White, a black man, was fatally shot by a Montgomery County Police officer in the parking lot of a Silver Spring townhouse community. White's death sent shockwaves through the region.

Nearly a year after White's death, the officer who fatally shot him was cleared of any wrongdoing.

"I understand that we have some folks in our community who don't trust us," Jones said, according to WTOP. "I've got some ideas that I'm planning that I think would be fruitful not only for the community but for our police department."

WTOP reports that Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich plans to appoint a permanent chief of police in the near future.