When Marcus Jones retired as the Montgomery County chief of police after decades of service with the police department, he knew he could work somewhere else–the only questions were where and when.
Then the position of Department of Security and Compliance chief in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) was brought to his attention.
“It interested me because I’ve had a really fabulous relationship with MCPS during the course of not only as in my career but also as a parent,” Jones said. “I knew a lot of good people who work within the system, I felt like I could bring my experience here and we could do some good things.”
Jones was appointed as the head of security and compliance in June following his retirement from the county police department after 38 years. His appointment received a mixed response, some praising the choice while others raised concerns.
Here’s what Jones told MoCo360 during an interview Wednesday about his approach to the role and aspects of the job moving forward:
Approaching the new position
Coming into his new role, Jones said it is different from his previous role as police chief—he no longer is the leader of an entire organization and security has a different focus than policing.
“I like to say that I’m rebranding myself,” Jones told MoCo360. “The focus … it is about the children, the students, the staff and the overall community.”
Jones said the biggest issue concerning safety and security in the school system is that people don’t feel safe. And some community issues, such as students fighting outside of schools, can blend into the school day impacting safety.
“What are the pitfalls that exist that create this feeling?” Jones said. “Some can be real and some can be perceived, but we have to address that.”
Jones said he’s committed to safety in the schools but understands the emotions that come along with the topic.
“When [parents] give their children off to educators, those are the trusted adults that are in the space, right,” Jones said. “We want their children to be in a safe space. We want to create a … welcoming environment for anybody.”
Clarifying role of policing in schools, assessing best practices
As Jones noted, MCPS—with 211 schools and more than 160,000 students–is a large system that encompasses outreach in many different areas. His department oversees several areas involved in security, including the Community Engagement Officer (CEO) Program.
Jones has said, including at Tuesday night’s county school board meeting, that he’d like to clarify what he said is confusion surrounding the CEO program and the role of policing in schools.
The CEO program was introduced in the 2022-2023 school year after MCPS removed county police officers, known as school resource officers, from schools the previous year.
Under the existing CEO program, county police officers patrol schools within a cluster and don’t remain inside buildings; they are assigned office space in a cluster’s high school. While police chief, Jones helped establish the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MCPS and the county police that governs the program.
Jones said confusion over the program comes down to three issues: some police officers assigned to the program not understanding their role, some in MCPS not understanding how the officers should be utilized; and the community as a whole not understanding how the program works.
Some schools have different needs than others, Jones said, such as officers navigating issues with trespassers or handling traffic problems outside the building.
“We needed to, again, reestablish what is in the MOU, have some clarity to understand that the principals need to utilize the CEOs to their advantage of what are the needs of their school?” Jones told MoCo360.
Regarding his expectations for the level of involvement from CEOs, Jones said he was focusing on his priority of maintaining consistency in the program before he assesses its value and effectiveness over the course of the year.
In addition to CEOs, Jones also oversees school security staff. Jones said the district’s security team is “fabulous” and staff as knowledgeable about the students and the happenings within their schools.
“There are some things that we need to probably assess from an organizational standpoint, of how our security teams are deployed and how they can be most effective,” Jones said. “That’s something I’ll be assessing throughout the year. And again, I want consistency.”
Discipline issues in schools rose to the forefront during the previous school year as the MCPS community grew concerned about safety in schools. While Jones noted that dealing with discipline in schools doesn’t fall in his wheelhouse, he said it does connect to safety and security because some behavior can turn into safety concerns.
Jones said the administration at individual schools must support security staff in addressing discipline if his staff is going to bring rule violations to staff members’ attention.
“Somebody’s doing something wrong … and nothing’s being done about it, then what message does that send?” Jones said. “Those are the things we have to work through … I will be an advocate for my people, identifying problems and making sure that we can work through those problems with the staff and to make those schools safe.”
Safety and security moving forward
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Jones and other administrators introduced several new safety and security initiatives, including installing vape detectors in high schools. While taking steps such as installing the detectors may not seem to be focused on safety and security, Jones said its important because some students use vaping to mask their use of marijuana or other drugs.
“It’s something that’s against the rules that are set in place by MCPS,” Jones said. “So, therefore, it becomes a safety issue.”
Jones did not provide a timeline for installing the detectors, but said the goal is to have them in place in high school bathrooms by the end of the 2024-2025 school year. He’s looking at vendors and said he will continue to “push hard” on the measure.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the school board voted to approve a $2 million appropriation from a settlement against electronic cigarette maker JUUL to fund the detectors. The County Council must now approve the appropriation before the district can move forward.
Jones said he was also in the “very early stages” of looking at weapons detection systems that could benefit the system. If MCPS implements a weapons detection system, the district would do it “holistically,” he said.
“Our major concerns about weapons coming into our schools, generally, those major concerns are at the high school level,” Jones said. “We have to really kind of look at the number of events that have occurred, are occurring.”
He’ll also explore school districts comparable to MCPS that have implemented weapons detection systems to determine whether they are efficient and effective.
With keeping schools safe a priority, Jones noted that he would be presenting quarterly safety and security updates to the school board.
“We’re not going to solve every issue overnight, but we’re going to work hard to make sure that our systems are in place and that we are working towards creating a safer environment,” Jones said.