Spotlight on Frontline Police: Choosing Service to the Community Above All Else
For Takoma Park’s frontline police officers, knowing the community they serve is one of the most important parts of the job.
“The officers know very well where they work with Takoma Park being a diverse and politically active environment,” said Lieutenant Matt Muzzatti, Takoma Park’s patrol operations commander. “They are what the public sees first hand of the government. Most scenarios, officers are arriving because something happened and people need assistance. Officers understand today’s political climate and that it’s their responsibility to maintain public trust.”
Takoma Park is unique from other jurisdictions of its size in having its own police department and not relying on the Montgomery County police to patrol its streets.
“We’re a very special area surrounded by three very different jurisdictions,” said Muzzatti. “We’re a full-service department so
we don’t rely on Montgomery County, but we have a relationship with them as well as Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department. That comes with all the nuances that all the jurisdictional lines bring.”
Muzzatti says understanding the diverse make-up of Takoma Park is integral to being able to keep the community safe.
“We know very well that Takoma Park has a large immigrant community,” said Muzzatti. “Some may not be here legally, so we try to stress as best as we can that calling the police will never call into question on their legal status. What concerns us is keeping the community safe. Most of our teams have one to two Spanish speaking officers. They are very happy to see us for the most part.”
Muzzatti also says the Takoma Park police department is always looking to the future to guide its policies, even leading the nation on reforms to address community concerns.
“The residents hold our agency to a very high standard,” he said. “We definitely want to meet their concerns. Takoma Park police is an experiment on how policing can look in the 21st century, and we look to see what’s the next evolution. Our department was fully fitted with body cameras before most others were even thinking of it. We also had restrictions on chokeholds well before the George Floyd incident.”
He says they department takes public sentiment very seriously and that they are well aware of the concerns of the public, especially after the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I don’t think any officer wants to become the next St. Louis or Ferguson,” he said. “We don’t want to end up on the news or be known as a department that operates in that manner.”
While Takoma Park is relatively safer than its neighbors, Muzzatti says a lot of that has to do with how quickly they’re able to respond to issues that may come up.
“I’d say we’re absolutely an outlier in Takoma Park regarding crime rates,” he said. “Takoma Park is like a fish bowl and all these officers are circling the outside, so we keep a lot of crime out of the city. We’re constantly keeping crime out. With Takoma Park, potential criminals don’t know that the officer could be responding from just a block away. We have success in reducing crime in the city when it comes to comparing the agencies.”
The city currently has nearly 40 officers who patrol the streets in 12-hour-long shifts, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“I used to work the night shift,” Muzzatti said. “I was working from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. I’d check emails to see what occurred during the daytime, conduct a roll call with my officers, and from there we go out on patrol—and for 12 hours we’re patrolling the city.”
Muzzatti says it takes a special type to become a police officer in Takoma Park, with officers choosing service to the community above everything else.
“The average law enforcement officer chose to work this job, not because it pays well or has great benefits,” he said. “I think a lot of these guys choose to work in law enforcement because it’s an interesting job and very rewarding. It comes with a lot of job satisfaction, but it’s a hard job.”
Muzzatti says the city is always recruiting new officers with entry-level salaries starting at $65,090 and going up to $87,476, based on years in service. For more information, visit the City of Takoma Park Police Webpage.
The Takoma Park newsletter will be doing profiles on some of the city’s frontline police officers over the next months. If you have a story you’d like to share about how a city police officer helped you, email seang@takomaparkmd.gov.
This article appeared in the September Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.
