The Montgomery County police union is bringing a lawsuit against the county over new limitations in officers’ ability to use force. The news was first reported by Bethesda Beat.

The union, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, argues in the lawsuit that the changes to the use of force policy passed last year should be subject to collective bargaining because they are related to officers’ “terms and conditions of employment” and therefore should be negotiated with the union.

That line of argument stands in direct contrast to the new law, which made the use of force changes — including a ban on chokeholds and carotid restraints, a prohibition on no-knock warrants, and limitations on using deadly force on a person fleeing and shooting from a moving vehicle — specifically exempt from collective bargaining.

“By prohibiting collective bargaining over certain minimum standards of force, and interpreting that prohibition to extend to all matters bearing any relation to use of force policies, Defendant has violated the Montgomery County Charter’s guarantee that Montgomery County police officers have a right to bargain over terms and conditions of their employment, including matters that bear a direct, material, and significant relationship to the health and safety of police officers,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also faults the county for interpreting the collective bargaining exemption in the 2020 law to extend to all use of force policies in general. It asks for an injunction to stop the county from implementing the new use of force policy changes.

An FOP spokesperson said the lawsuit was a way to give rank and file officers a chance to weigh in on the new policies.

“Prohibiting police officers from collectively bargaining the minimum standards set in Bill 27-20 prohibits any input for the officers on the front lines and only gives the authority to managers who don’t do police work or patrol the streets of Montgomery County,” the spokesperson said in an email.

The FOP also criticized the police department’s approach to training officers on the new standards.

“The training provided for the new use of force law created more questions and misunderstandings than it did provide a complete understanding of what is now required,” the email continued. “Our members walked away confused and concerned.”

But others disagree with the argument that standards for use of force should be up for negotiation between the union and the county.

“This is so important. It’s about when a police officer can take life or harm a resident to keep the rest of us safe,” County Councilmember Will Jawando, one of the primary sponsors of the original legislation, told DCist/WAMU. “That is absolutely something that should be decided by elected representatives of the people.”

“You won’t find a bigger supporter of collective bargaining than me, and the rights of labor,” Jawando said. “But this is something that literally is about the life and death and safety of our residents.”

Jawando said he wasn’t expecting the lawsuit, which comes nearly a year after the law passed.

“The FOP was very involved in the [legislative] process,” he said. “They participated in work sessions and the like.”

Jawando called the lawsuit “disappointing” and “obstructionist,” and a discouraging sign for police reform in general.

“I think the fact that it’s happening after this year — that we’ve had not only the pandemic, but the racial reckoning and the call for reform — I think it’s not a good sign,” he said.

The Montgomery County police department said in an email that it does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit comes as the county mulls cutting 29 positions in the police department in its upcoming budget, and after a family filed a lawsuit against the police department for use of excessive force in the execution of a no-knock search warrant in 2019, prior to the county council’s enactment of the new prohibition on no-knock warrants. More policy changes could be coming to the police department in the future, too: Jawando and Council President Tom Hucker have introduced new measures to require training, educational partnerships and recruitment in-line with community policing standards and to set up a process for reviewing police body camera footage.

Last year, the D.C. police union brought a similar lawsuit against the District, in this case over provisions in emergency legislation which could make it easier for the Metropolitan Police Department to fire officers over disciplinary violations. The union argued that such changes should be subject to collective bargaining. The lawsuit ultimately failed.