Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada resigns after critical report

Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada resigned Friday in the wake of a report from the county’s Office of the Inspector General that faults him for failing to take leave when absent from work and making a false statement.

The report, released Friday hours after the county announced Yamada’s departure, also concluded that, against county regulations, Yamada consumed alcohol at a golf tournament when he was “on the clock” and took a relative — another county employee — to a conference but falsely denied that he had chosen the person to accompany him.

Yamada, whose resignation was announced in a police department statement Friday, could not immediately be reached for comment.

County Executive Marc Elrich said in a statement Friday that he asked Yamada to resign based on the report’s findings. Elrich said the details about taking but not reporting leave bothered him.

“More concerning to me were the findings regarding the accuracy of the Chief’s statements to the IG during the investigation,” Elrich said. “Trust and integrity are fundamental to public service, particularly for those entrusted with leading our police department.”

At-large County Council member Will Jawando, the Democratic nominee for county executive who is widely expected to succeed Elrich after November’s election, said in a statement that he was “deeply disappointed” by the findings of the report.

The Police Department “carries extraordinary authority and responsibility,” Jawando said. “Those who lead the department must exercise that authority with the highest levels of integrity, accountability and sound judgment.”

Assistant Police Chief Darren Francke will serve as acting chief of police until a permanent chief is appointed, according to the police statement.

The inspector general’s investigation followed a whistleblower’s tip this summer that alleged Yamada had misused county funds.

The OIG’s findings include:

• Between July 2024 and July 2026, Yamada, who is referred to as a Police Department “executive” in the report, did not record any leave for at least five days when he was absent from the office and unavailable for work.
• During this time, Yamada “continued to contribute towards their sick leave balance, a portion of which could be credited towards their pension.”
• On one of those days when Yamada had failed to take leave, he attended a golf tournament where he consumed alcohol. “The executive confirmed that they attended the golf tournament noted in the complaint, but said they did so in a private capacity,” the report states. “They admitted that while they did not take leave to attend the event, they would have expected other police employees who attended to do so.”
• Yamada violated the county code by providing false information to the inspector general, claiming that he did not select his relative, a county employee, to accompany him to an out-of-state conference in June. “Our investigation revealed this to be false,” the report states.

The inspector general’s report makes several recommendations, including that the county determine whether to recover the equivalent of 40 hours of pay from Yamada and that it “implement a policy clarifying when employees may attend events of a social nature during work hours without taking leave.”

It does not suggest that Yamada should resign or be fired.

“I am referring this matter to you for whatever action you deem appropriate,” Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi wrote in a memo Friday to Richard Madaleno, the county’s chief administrative officer, summarizing the investigation. “Additionally, I am sharing our findings with the County’s Ethics Commission for their awareness and consideration.”

Yamada has worked for the Montgomery County Police Department for more than 37 years. As a corporal in 2002, he worked on a team searching for the D.C. sniper.

He served as assistant chief of the Field Services Bureau before he was sworn in as chief in July 2024 in a ceremony attended by his wife and two of his four children.

A county announcement at the time praised his leadership in “community-oriented policing strategies.”

In a statement Friday, the Police Department said it will “continue its day-to-day operations and remain focused on serving Montgomery County” and that it is “committed to transparency, accountability and maintaining the public’s trust as we move forward.”

This story has been updated to include the findings of the inspector general’s report.