The Montgomery County Police Department released a video Monday morning featuring Chief Marc Yamada, who walked residents through how to properly identify an MCPD officer. The message comes as the department rolls out updated patches and markings designed to eliminate confusion between MCPD and other law enforcement agencies operating in the county.
In the video, Yamada explains that Montgomery County Police officers always wear a gold badge marked “Detective” or “Police,” along with “Montgomery County, MD.” Officers also display a name tag with their last name and ID number.
Uniforms may vary, but identification never does, Yamada noted. MCPD officers may be seen wearing traditional uniform shirts, polo-style uniform shirts, or outer ballistic vests, depending on their assignment. “These still have a cloth badge and patches that say ‘Police’ and ‘Montgomery County, Maryland,’” Yamada said. “While the colors and style may vary, wording never does. You will always see ‘Montgomery County Police.’”
For anyone unsure about an officer’s identity, Yamada encouraged residents to contact the department’s non-emergency line at 301-279-8000, where a supervisor can confirm credentials. “Remember, we’re here to keep our community safe and we want to be easily recognized,” he said.
The video follows an informational post MCPD shared last week showing examples of badges and patches used by the department. That post emphasized that while patrol officers sometimes wear outer ballistic vests with “POLICE” on the back, future vests will clearly read “Montgomery County Police” to make agency affiliation unmistakable.
Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink also highlighted the update, explaining that residents had previously contacted her with concerns that MCPD officers wearing plain black ballistic vests marked simply “POLICE” might be federal immigration agents. According to Mink, these concerns were especially common among residents vulnerable to federal immigration enforcement or racial profiling.
“By Spring, this was happening regularly, and I requested that the labels on MCPD’s vests be replaced to make their County designation clear,” Mink wrote. She added that both County Executive Marc Elrich and Chief Yamada supported the change. “Big news: The new patches have arrived, and officers will be swapping them out!” she announced.
The department says the effort is part of ongoing work to ensure transparency, reduce confusion, and help residents easily identify Montgomery County Police officers in the field.
