Once a Corporal Here, Captain Returns to Wheaton

Capt. John Damskey might be new to command at the 4th district, but he isn't a stranger to Wheaton.

Damskey started his career as a corporal patrolling the streets of the district, known then as the Wheaton-Glenmont District. He attended Good Counsel High School, which is now the site of new townhouses along Georgia Avenue. After a career taking charge of one of the police department's most controversial programs in recent years, the captain is glad to return to his home district.

"I've only been here for eight days, and I haven't broken anything yet," he joked in a Aug. 11 interview.

Prior to August, Damskey was commander of the Traffic Division for Montgomery County. Part of that job was overseeing the expansion of the speed camera program in the past two years. As a regular round of transfers became available this year, he requested Wheaton.

"Every so often, I'll flash back to my old days and say, 'Wheaton district,' but it's the 4th district," he said. "Everything I do right now is in the 4th district. I really wanted to come here, be the commander."

Damskey noted that his good relationship with existing executive officers in the branch was another reason he felt the station on Randolph Road would be a good fit.

Now an Ashton resident, he is using his first weeks to meet with neighborhood and civic groups in the district, as well as familiarizing himself with area crime trends, gang presence and the day-to-day operations of policing a community that is both rural and urban.

"The difference is, as a district commander, you are in the forefront. Your station, your office, is in the community. You take ownership of your geographic area," he said.

"I think he understands he's getting a good district," said Capt. Nancy Demme, former 4th district commander, and now in charge of the Training and Academic Division.

Demme appreciated that Damskey didn't want to make big changes in the first days of his command.

"He said he was going to take a wait and see attitude," she said, "and would make changes when change was needed."

Before they worked together in transferring command of the 4th district, Demme trained him in the academy 20 years ago as an instructor.

After years policing the streets of Wheaton, Damskey became a lieutenant in the Special Operations Division, was promoted to captain as the midnight duty commander and then returned to special operations. When that division split, Damskey took command of a diverse range of programs, including school safety, the speed camera program and the alcohol unit.

Initially wary of the speed camera program, Damskey had somewhat of a conversion.

"I was a tactical lieutenant, and I stayed away from traffic." he said. "But when I came back as a captain, I had to do it. I had to take care of it as part of my division. I got an education very quickly. Now I support the program 110 percent, seeing the effects it's had on our collisions."

The initiative has placed 60 fixed cameras on the roads of Montgomery County since the County Council approved a law in 2006 that enabled the program to begin.

The first camera was installed nearby, on Randolph Road near Wheaton High School. Damskey said that at intersections where speed cameras had been placed, collisions were down in a 12-month period.

The cameras allow the police to catch the more egregious speeders, he said, and he believes that frees up police resources to patrol better and to reach out to the community.

In the middle of his police career, he received a master's in management from John Hopkins University in a program designed for law enforcement officials that he says helps him with his job every day.

"I've got friends of mine in ATF, the Secret Service, Baltimore County and Prince George's County that I talk to every day that I've met through the program." Damskey said. "[They] have been doing police work for a long time, and when you have a problem or an issue or a challenge, you can hit up the listserv or email [to ask a question]."

It's especially helpful when the police force in Montgomery County wants a strong working relationship with neighboring departments. 

"We've got to recognize that crime and criminals don't respect boundary lines," Damskey said.