MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — In his three years as chief and 37 in the Montgomery County Police Department, Chief Marcus Jones says he's never seen a year like this one.
"This is something that I've not seen during the course of my career this late in the year," said Chief Jones. "I'm very proud of the men and women of this department for their work."
Specifically, their work on the worst cases.
So far in 2022, Montgomery County says it has closed 100% of its murder cases - 17 as of last week, which now awaits prosecution.
Typically, Chief Jones says, his department solves around 60-70% of murder cases.
"I don't consider it this is not luck," said Chief Jones. "There have been some very challenging cases that our investigators have really worked hard to solve."
So, what is different about this year?
"First and foremost, I'm going to give all the credit to our police officers, most importantly, our homicide investigators, our crime scene techs, and our people who work in the lab," he said.
And in some cases, it takes help from the community, which the Chief says isn't always easy to get.
"There's a fear of reprisal that there's going to be retribution if they cooperate," Chief Jones said. "And that's understandable."
Montgomery County's success so far this year comes as closure rates have dropped for decades across the country.
Former CIA agent and crime analyst Jeff Asher with AH Datalytics says data show murders committed with guns are harder to solve, so a community with less gun violence like Montgomery County can have a better chance of solving cases.
"I think the good news is probably the 17 murders (in Montgomery County as of early November) is the really positive sign," Asher said. "You're not seeing a surge in murders as you are elsewhere."
Chief Jones says it’s the families of victims that motivate his investigators.
"Their pain never goes away. And so that's the importance of us doing everything we can, everything that's possible in an attempt to try to close these cases," said Chief Jones.
Since last week’s announcement on the 100% closure rate, Montgomery County has seen one more murder. A 19-year-old was shot and killed in Silver Spring on Wednesday morning on Colony Road. If you know anything about that case, please come forward and call the police.