UPDATE: Suspect Dead in His Cell

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.

Jail Officers Investigated for Inmate's Death

UPPER MARLBORO, Md.

A black man arrested in the hit-and-run death of a police officer was found strangled in his cell, and investigators focused Tuesday on guards at the suburban Maryland jail, which has a history of security lapses.

As state police took over the investigation, an attorney for inmate Ronnie L. White's family said the young man's attackers "took it upon themselves to be both the judge, the jury and the executioner."

White's death shocked and angered officials in Prince George's County, including County Executive Jack Johnson, who likened it to "vigilante justice."

Investigators from the FBI and state police joined the case Monday after the state medical examiner concluded that White had been strangled Sunday morning.

White, 19, was arrested early Saturday on charges of ramming a stolen pickup truck into police Cpl. Richard Findley. Findley had gotten out of his police cruiser Friday while trying to conduct a traffic stop on the truck. White allegedly struck him and dragged him for a short distance in the community of Laurel.

Johnson immediately moved to curb speculation that White's death was the result of police officers seeking revenge, saying the slaying was "unrelated to any act" by police.

Attorney Bobby G. Henry Jr., who represented White's family, urged the U.S. Department of Justice to join the investigation.

"Something is dreadfully wrong with our system," he said.

County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey said his office would convene a grand jury to review evidence in the case. He said investigators were scrutinizing seven correctional officers who had access to White, who was being held separately from other inmates. Ivey also said other workers at the county jail and inmates would be questioned.

"We'll follow the evidence wherever it leads," he said.

Rich Wolf, an FBI spokesman in Baltimore, confirmed that the agency had opened a civil rights case, but he would not comment on the investigation. Calls to state police were not immediately returned.

White's death is the latest in a series of security lapses at the jail, which is 20 miles outside Washington in one of Maryland's largest counties. Last month, the county's corrections director was fired after guns vanished from the armory. In February, a former police official convicted of second-degree murder was found with a handcuffs key.

A corrections officer suspected of being a gang member was charged in March with bringing cell phones to inmates who were members of the Bloods street gang. And earlier this year, two female officers were suspended for allegedly having sexual contact with inmates.

More than 450 guards work at the 20-year-old facility, which had an average daily population of 1,489 prisoners during the 2007 fiscal year. White was being held in a cell by himself, to protect him from other prisoners, because of the high profile of his alleged crime.

"This shouldn't happen," Johnson said Monday night. "Every citizen we bring into our custody should be protected."

Curtis Knowles, head of the county's correctional officers union, said Tuesday that union lawyers advised him not to comment on the case because of the investigation. On Monday, he urged people not to reach any conclusions before the investigation had run its course.

Corrections officials have said White had no visible signs of trauma on his body when guards bringing him a meal found him slumped on the floor next to his bed about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. He had been checked 15 minutes earlier and appeared to be well. A preliminary autopsy by the state medical examiner in Baltimore ruled the death a homicide and found two broken bones in his neck.

None of the seven guards or an unspecified number of supervisors who could have had contact with White have been suspended or placed on leave during the investigation, according to Vicki Duncan, spokeswoman for the corrections division.

White had a prior criminal record that included serving time for drug charges.

Members of his family did not attend a news conference Tuesday held by their attorney, and they could not be immediately reached.

Findley, 39, was a 10-year veteran of the county police force. A funeral was scheduled for Thursday, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff until then.