Mark A. Bernstiel was sworn in as Chief County Detective on March 8, 2021. As such, Chief Bernstiel commands a staff of 40 detectives, 10 investigators and analysts, and five support staff.
Bernstiel's appointment as Chief is the culmination of a long career with the Montgomery County Detective Bureau. In 1985, he joined the Detective Bureau as a Crime Scene Investigator, then attended the police academy and, after graduating in 1987, he became a County Detective. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2000, leading the bureau’s Special Investigations Unit and overseeing public corruption, fraud and gang violence investigations.
In 2014, he was promoted to Deputy Chief, where he was the commanding officer of the bureau’s operational activities and served as the chief of staff for the Detective Bureau until ascending to Chief.