More Jobs Slated For Baltimore County Police Department

TOWSON, MD — Baltimore County plans to add more staff to its police department in the coming year.

Floating school resource officers and forensic technicians will be included in the upcoming budget, according to Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.

Olszewski joined Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt Monday morning for a news conference outside the old Towson courthouse to announce the proposed investments.

Here are some of them:

• Four floating school resource officers will be added. There are three patrol areas in the county overall, and Hyatt said the new officers will "boost the resources in each of those areas."
• A wellness director will expand supports in place for officers.
• A police-community engagement coordinator will be a liaison with the community and ensure precincts are making connections needed for community policing to be successful.
• Eight new data scientists will be dedicated to following trends and helping the county deploy resources based on the data, the county executive said.
• The county is standing up a "real-time event center" to hone in on and track incidents as they happen, Olszewski said.
• Seven new forensics technicians will also be in the budget, he reported. "The faster we can solve crimes, the faster we can get criminals off the street," Olszewski said. The police chief also said the forensics members were an important part of the team.

Despite the headlines, Olszewski said overall violent crime was down 16 percent in Baltimore County in 2021. So far this year, there has been a "significant reduction in homicides — a trend that we are cautiously optimistic will continue," Olszewski said.

"Accountability goes beyond words in Baltimore County," he said, noting the Baltimore County Police Department has an 81 percent clearance rate.

"There are no cuts,” Olszewski said of public safety funding in his FY 2023 budget.

Hyatt said the department was fully staffed but would hire additional officers.

There is a $10,000 hiring bonus for new recruits and a $500 incentive for referring successful candidates.

Olszewski will present his budget to the Baltimore County Council on April 14.