Prince George's County Police Department (Maryland)
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| Prince George's County Police Department | |
| Abbreviation | PGPD |
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| Patch of the Prince George's County Police Department. | |
| Agency Overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1927 |
| Employees | 1,683 |
| Annual Budget | $244,300,000.00[1] |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional Structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | County of Prince George's in the state of Maryland, USA |
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| Map of Prince George's County Police Department's jurisdiction. | |
| Size | 498 square miles |
| Population | 801,515 |
| General nature | |
| Operational Structure | |
| Headquarters | Landover, Maryland[2] |
| Police Officers | 1,420 |
| Civilians | 263 |
| Agency executive | Roberto Hylton, Chief |
| Stations | 6 |
| Facilities | |
| Jails | 1 |
| Police Boats | 3 |
| Helicopters | 2 |
| Website | |
| Official Website | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Prince George's County, Maryland in the United States, servicing a population of over 850,000 residents and visitors within 498 square miles (1,290 km²) of jurisdiction.[3]
Contents |
[edit] History
The Prince George's County Police Department was created in 1927 in response to the increasing population and crime the county was experiencing. Prior to 1931, the county was policed by the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office. When serious crimes (e.g., murder, rape, etc.) were committed, detectives from the Baltimore City Police Department were borrowed.[4]
[edit] Organization
The current police chief is Roberto Hylton. The previous chief, Melvin High resigned [5] effective 31 August, 2008.[6]
As of 2008, the agency has an authorized strength of 1,420 sworn officers and 263 civilians.
The agency is divided into six districts. Each district is divided into two sectors which are divided into individual beats:
- District I (Hyattsville: Adam and Baker sector),
- District II (Bowie: David and Edward sector),
- District III (Palmer Park: George and Henry sector),
- District IV (Oxon Hill: John and King sector),
- District V (Clinton: Frank sector), and
- District VI (Beltsville: Charlie sector).
The County Police also has a Special Operations Division which is composed of the following:[7]
- Tactical Section- includes the Emergency Services Team, EST (SWAT) and the Violent Crimes Unit (VCU) among others. The EST provides services for barricade/hostage situations and also provides executive protection as directed by authority. The VCU is responsible for the detection and prevention of violent crimes within the county.
- Special Enforcement Section- includes the Canine Unit (K-9) and conflict negotiators.
- Traffic Enforcement Section- includes Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Unit (CARU), the State Highway Safety Grant Coordinators, and the Motor Unit (motorcycles). The CARU team is summonsed when a fatal traffic collision has occurred.
- (SOD) includes an aviation unit which currently has two helicopters.
- (SOD) includes a marine unit which currently has three boats(Two are 18in the other is 21in) mainly used to patrol the waters of National Harbor.
[edit] Notable incidents
The department has been involved in a number of incidents over the years:
- In July, 1999, the department was subject to a complaint [8] by the United States Justice Department regarding alleged excessive use of force by police canine units.
- In January 2004, the department signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States Justice Department over allegations of excessive force. [9] This resulted in the establishment of an independent monitoring group by MPRI, a defense contractor.
- On 30 June 2008, Prince George's County Police officer Cpl. Richard S. Findley, 39 was killed by Ronnie L. White who was driving a stolen pick up truck. White struck Cpl. Findley with the truck as he attempted to elude police and avoid being arrested. White appeared to be in good physical condition when he was arrested but died of asphyxiation while in the custody of the separate Prince George's County Department of Corrections. [10] The death was ruled a homicide.
- Berwyn Heights, Maryland mayor's residence drug raid: On July 29, police executed a search warrant on the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo during which two Labrador retrievers owned by the mayor were shot by sheriff deputies, agents of the State of Maryland. They were there to conduct a search for drugs. The raid was conducted by county police narcotics officers and a sheriff's office SWAT Team. The incident occurred after Calvo carried in a package that was addressed to his wife. The mayor's mother-in-law had told the deliverymen, who were actually undercover police officers, to leave the package outside of his house. When Calvo arrived home that night, he brought the package inside.
- On October 23, 2008, the county and three individually-named police officers were found not liable for use of excessive force by a jury after deliberating for twenty minutes. The incident complained of involved injuries sustained by a University of Maryland student who was involved in a riot following a victory over Duke University in basketball in 2005. The student was struck near the eye by a projectile fired from a FN 303 less-than-lethal riot gun.[11]
[edit] PGPD cruisers
 Chevrolet Impala of the Prince George's County Police. |
 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor of the Prince George's County Police. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/Government/AgencyIndex/OMB/Proposed_Budget_FY2010/Approvedpdfs/PublicSafety/police.pdf
- ^ http://www.co.pg.md.us/Government/PublicSafety/Police/index.asp?nivel=foldmenu(1)
- ^ Prince George's County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
- ^ "History of the Prince George's County Police Department". http://www.goprincegeorgescounty.com/Government/PublicSafety/Police/About/history.asp?nivel=subfoldmenu(0,2).
- ^ http://www.gazette.net/stories/073108/prinnew131442_32367.shtml
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/30/AR2008073002497.html
- ^ Prince George's County, MD - Police Department : Special Operations Division
- ^ http://www.co.pg.md.us/Government/PublicSafety/Police/pdfs/DOJ-PGPD%20-%20Consent%20Decree%2011th%20Status%20Rpt.pdf
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en-us&pwst=1&q=+site:www.usdoj.gov+PGPD+misconduct
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063001967.html
- ^ http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2008/10/24/News/Court.Sides.With.Police.In.Riot.Case-3504936.shtml?refsource=collegeheadlines
