The killing of a Prince George’s County police officer and the homicide of his suspected killer two days later in his jail cell have sparked questions about the county’s reputation for excessive force — and has county leaders scrambling to quell concerns.
‘‘We should all wait to see what the results of the investigation are before we start indicting the reputation of the entire public safety department,” said Vernon Herron, county director of public safety.
Cpl. Richard Findley, 39, was killed June 27 after he approached a pickup truck that was believed to have been stolen. The truck hit him, injuring him fatally.
The same day, Ronnie L. White, 19, of North Laurel was arrested and charged in Findley’s death. On Sunday morning, White, alone in a maximum security cell in the county’s correctional center, was found dead. An autopsy showed White died of asphyxiation. The FBI and Maryland State Police have taken over the investigation.
Prince George’s has a history of problems with the way it treats suspects. Since 2004, the county police department has been monitored by the U.S. Department of Justice to curb ‘‘patterns of excessive force,” most notably among the department’s police canine unit. Claims of police abuse swirled in the 1990s and, in 1999, 12 people were shot by officers and two others died while in police custody.
‘‘There are a number of questions that go into this from the past,” Ronald Walters, a political expert and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, said of revived concerns from the community about law enforcement officers. ‘‘You have to look at the number of things that were countenanced in this county.”
On Monday night, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) stressed that White’s death occurred at the correctional center and appeared ‘‘unrelated to any acts of the Prince George’s County Police Department.”
Other officials also walked a fine line between mourning Findley’s death and acknowledging White’s homicide. County Council Chairman Samuel H. Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville expressed sympathy at Tuesday’s council meeting for the officer’s family, and an hour later, a spokeswoman released an e-mail amending his condolences.
‘‘We also extend our sympathy to the family of Ronnie White,” the statement read. ‘‘We will keep all those affected by these tragic events in our thoughts and prayers.”
County officials have noted repeatedly that White’s death does not involve the police department, but the Department of Corrections, which has had its own share of strife over the past year.
Last month, corrections chief Alfred McMurray was fired after a string of security failures, including the disappearance of four guns from the prison armory. Earlier in the year, a corrections officer was accused of smuggling cell phones to gang members; two prisoners were discovered with handcuff keys; and two female correctional officers were suspended for allegedly having sexual relations with male prisoners.
Further concerns were sparked when county officials rejected calls to suspend the jail officers who had access to White’s cell, some of whom refused to cooperate with the homicide investigation.
‘‘There are nine individuals that have been identified already, and all of them, we find, are still employed and still on duty,” said June White-Dillard, president of the county NAACP. ‘‘We feel it is imperative that they are placed on administrative leave until a complete and thorough has been completed into the homicide of Ronnie White.”
Johnson, the county’s former prosecutor, defended the decision to keep the officers on duty.
‘‘No one is a suspect yet,” Johnson said. ‘‘We have standard procedures that have worked for many years. When [White] came in, he was given a physical, he was processed ... there is nothing to indicate that the standards [were not met].”
Others urged people to remember Findley’s service and the loss to his family, frien.ds and the police department, where he worked for 10 years, and the fire department, where he was a longtime volunteer.
‘‘Unfortunately, public attention has shifted away from remembering the heroic sacrifices of Cpl. Richard Findley,” said Mel Franklin, president of the Greater Marlboro Democratic Club.
Funeral services held July 3 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Beltsville were attended by more than 1,000 people and 500 police and firefighters. Dignitaries included Johnson and County Police Chief Melvin C. High, who announced Findley’s posthumous promotion to sergeant.
‘‘He made all of our lives so much richer,” High said during the service. ‘‘He lived his life the way God would have him live it. He’s at peace. Take comfort in that.”
Findley, who lived in Westminster, was buried in Davidsonville.
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