Full Name
Captain Nicholas Picerno
Job Title
Director, Special Operations Division
Company
Montgomery County Department of Police
Speaker Bio
Nicholas Picerno is currently a captain with the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department located in suburban Washington, DC, where he has worked for over 22 years. He has a total of nearly 25 years of law enforcement experience, including time spent in local police and corrections in New Hampshire. After a period of time in patrol and proactive enforcement positions, Captain Picerno spent four years as a detective in the Homicide Section of the Montgomery County Police Department, investigating cases that had both national and international significance. Upon promotion to sergeant, Captain Picerno again worked in patrol and proactive enforcement capacities until becoming the supervisor of the Collision Reconstruction Unit. In two years in that assignment, Captain Picerno supervised a unit that conducted fatal collision investigations. He returned to the Homicide Section for a year as a shift supervisor, overseeing a team of investigators as they conducted complex death investigations. Upon his promotion to lieutenant, Captain Picerno became the director of the Montgomery County Police Department’s Legal and Labor Relations Division and the Executive Officer to the Chief of Police.
Captain Picerno was permanently promoted to captain in November 2020 and was named the director of the Special Investigations Division. In that capacity, he oversaw the department’s covert and plainclothes narcotics, human trafficking, firearms, and organized crime investigations. He was also directly responsible for the department’s intelligence capabilities—including liaising with local, state, and federal intelligence partners. In addition, he has served as the acting director of the Policy and Planning Division and as the director of the Training and Education Division, overseeing entry-level and in-service training for all 1,200 sworn members of the department, as well as several allied agencies. He is currently the director of the Special Operations Division, overseeing tactical operations and civil disturbance response.
Captain Picerno has been a Maryland Police and Corrections Training Commission certified instructor since 2014. He has taught courses on topics such as investigative methods, search warrants, and criminal enforcement. He has also taught courses on supervisory and administrative obligations as well as first-line administrator and first-line supervisor courses. He has been offered as an expert witness during court proceedings in the areas of use of force and probable cause.
In addition to his full-time assignment, Captain Picerno serves as a member of the Emergency Response Team. He is also the project director for both the NCR-LiNX program, which is a Google-type search engine for law enforcement data, and the Violent Crime Information Center, which is the agency’s real-time crime center. He is a lecturer at the University of Maryland, teaching courses on law enforcement technology.
Captain Picerno holds a bachelor of science degree in administration of justice from Penn State University, with a minor in history. He holds a master of arts degree in human science and a graduate certificate in thanatology (the academic study of death and bereavement) from Hood College. He received a juris doctor degree, graduating cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is admitted to the Maryland State Bar and is a practicing attorney. He is also a graduate of Session 80 of the Senior Management in Policing program from the Police Executive Research Forum.
Captain Picerno was permanently promoted to captain in November 2020 and was named the director of the Special Investigations Division. In that capacity, he oversaw the department’s covert and plainclothes narcotics, human trafficking, firearms, and organized crime investigations. He was also directly responsible for the department’s intelligence capabilities—including liaising with local, state, and federal intelligence partners. In addition, he has served as the acting director of the Policy and Planning Division and as the director of the Training and Education Division, overseeing entry-level and in-service training for all 1,200 sworn members of the department, as well as several allied agencies. He is currently the director of the Special Operations Division, overseeing tactical operations and civil disturbance response.
Captain Picerno has been a Maryland Police and Corrections Training Commission certified instructor since 2014. He has taught courses on topics such as investigative methods, search warrants, and criminal enforcement. He has also taught courses on supervisory and administrative obligations as well as first-line administrator and first-line supervisor courses. He has been offered as an expert witness during court proceedings in the areas of use of force and probable cause.
In addition to his full-time assignment, Captain Picerno serves as a member of the Emergency Response Team. He is also the project director for both the NCR-LiNX program, which is a Google-type search engine for law enforcement data, and the Violent Crime Information Center, which is the agency’s real-time crime center. He is a lecturer at the University of Maryland, teaching courses on law enforcement technology.
Captain Picerno holds a bachelor of science degree in administration of justice from Penn State University, with a minor in history. He holds a master of arts degree in human science and a graduate certificate in thanatology (the academic study of death and bereavement) from Hood College. He received a juris doctor degree, graduating cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is admitted to the Maryland State Bar and is a practicing attorney. He is also a graduate of Session 80 of the Senior Management in Policing program from the Police Executive Research Forum.
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