Prince George's County Sheriff's Office
The Prince George's County Sheriff's Office, officially the Office of the Sheriff, Prince George's County, provides law enforcement services in Prince George's County, Maryland in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Upper Marlboro, near the Depot Pond. The sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of Prince George's County and is elected every four years. There are no term limits for the sheriff.
Created in 1696, the traditional duties of the sheriff are keeper of the public peace and the enforcement arm of the county court, analogous to the U.S. Marshals Service. The PGSO has a relatively long history compared to other police departments and sheriff's offices in Maryland. The PGSO was involved with events that occurred during the burning of Washington and affected the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner". Prior to the creation of the Prince George's County Police Department in 1931, the PGSO was the sole county-level law enforcement agency.
Today, the duties of the sheriff include law enforcement services of the two county courthouses and surrounding property, service of court-ordered warrants, writs, protective orders, and other injunctions, and limited patrol responsibility with the County Police. The Domestic Violence Unit has expanded its role in the county to include responding to calls for service that are domestic-related. The creation of the School Resource Deputy division has placed a deputy sheriff at all of the local high schools, replacing the County Police. All other law enforcement services of the county are provided by multiple agencies but mostly left to the separate Prince George's County Police Department, though some responsibilities are shared by both agencies. The PGSO is an agency with an array of services, from the Specialized Services Team to community services aiding the county's residents in safety education.
The PGSO was accredited for the first time by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. in 2018 and re-accredited in 2022.
Authority
The sheriff is the chief law enforcement official of Prince George's County, per Maryland common law. All deputy sheriffs are certified, sworn law enforcement officials with full power of arrest. All sworn members of the sheriff's office are agents of the U.S. state of Maryland and thus have authority throughout the entire state, although direct jurisdiction is limited to the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Maryland, which includes Calvert County, Charles County, Prince George's County, and St. Mary's County.History
1690s–1720s: Founding and British rule
The Sheriff's Office was founded April 22, 1696, when Maryland was a colony of England. The governor of Maryland, Sir Francis Nicholson, appointed Thomas Hillary as the first sheriff. The St. Paul's Church in Charlestown held the headquarters for the Sheriff's Office until the 1720s when it was relocated to the town of Upper Marlboro. At the time of the 18th century, there was no set salary for the sheriff, but he was often paid in tobacco. From 1696 to 1776, the sheriff was appointed by the colonial governor to a one-year term. In 1776, the Maryland constitution changed this so that the sheriff was elected by the voters to three-year terms.1810s: War of 1812
During the War of 1812, which lasted from 1812 to 1815, an incident occurred at the time of the burning of Washington, D.C., when the sheriff's office became involved in an occurrence that led to the writing of the U.S. national anthem. As the British Army marched from Washington they passed through Prince George's County. Because the residents had cooperated with the British, the commander ensured that minimal damage was inflicted upon the local residents and their property. After the Battle of Bladensburg, the British Army returned to the area of Upper Marlboro. However, this time some of the British soldiers looted local farms. A sheriff's posse subsequently arrested the offending soldiers and placed them in the county jail. Upon learning about the arrest of his soldiers, the British commander ordered the arrest of the sheriff and the posse in turn. One of the posse members was Dr. William Beam. Beam was ultimately arrested and held for ransom on a British warship. Beam's brother-in-law, Francis Scott Key, went to Baltimore Harbor in search of him. He witnessed the British fleet under attack which was the inspiration of "The Star-Spangled Banner".During the war, an incident occurred involving the Prince George's County jail, when local resident Dr. William Beanes, captured several marauding British Army deserters from the passing army of General Robert Ross and Vice Admiral, Sir George Cockburn,, and held them in the County Jail, after he had treated several wounded "Redcoat" soldiers in their march on to Washington and the disastrous Battle of Bladensburg on the Eastern Branch stream of the Anacostia River in August 1814. Later he was arrested along with several others including Robert Bowie, former 11th governor of Maryland by retreating British cavalry on orders from Ross who had stayed in his home as headquarters. Later Francis Scott Key, a Georgetown and Frederick lawyer with Col. John S. Skinner, U.S. Prisoner-of-War and Parole Agent went to Baltimore secured a small sailing ship, the Minden, and sailed down the Patapsco River and the Chesapeake Bay to find the British Royal Navy fleet after leaving the Patuxent River, beating up the Bay from their base on Tangier Island, Virginia heading for their attack on the hated "nest of pirates" - Baltimore. After being received and negotiating with General Ross, Admiral Cockburn and their superior, Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane,, and showing him some letters written by captured British wounded soldiers testifying to the fair treatment Beanes had given them and tended to them, they agreed to free him but that would be held up until they could celebrate after the Burning of Baltimore following their attack on Fort McHenry and landing troops to the east at North Point. Well, the famous story has been told, how the general was killed prior to the skirmishing at the Battle of North Point on September 12, how the advancing British under successor, Colonel Arthur Brooke led the British regiments to face the 20,000 drafted and volunteer citizens and militia under the command of Major General Samuel Smith,, of the Maryland Militia on the eastern heights of "Loudenschlager's Hill" whose dug-in fortifications and dragged cannon were so numerous that the "Redcoats" halted in their tracks and decided to await the shelling of the fort which guarded the entrances to the Harbor to pass into the inner port and the waterfront of Fells Point. Following the failure of the fort to fall to two days of "the rockets' red glare and the bombs bursting in air" and their flanking troop-loaded barge attack around the west end but driven back by alert artillery seamen at Forts Covington and Babcock in a driving night rainstorm, the British fleet turned about and set sail. Key and his companions Beanes and Skinner who were startled, amazed and emotionally overcome to see a huge 30 by 42 foot banner being raised in the light of the early morning with the distant booming of the morning's gun salute, knew that the fort and the city had held. When they landed at "The Basin" and Key finished up his draft of a new poem "The Defence of Fort McHenry" at the Indian Queen Hotel at West Baltimore and Hanover Streets, and sung lustily through the city, performed on the stage at the famed Holliday Street Theatre, and then soon throughout the state and soon the nation as "The Star Spangled Banner".
In 1851, the sheriff's term was changed from a three-year term to a two-year term.
1922–1930: Sheriff and police split
In 1922, the sheriff's term length was extended from two years to four years.From 1929 to 1930, due to an increase in population and crime, Prince George's County created a separate police department. Prior to this time, laws allowed detectives to be used on loan from the Baltimore City Police Department. The newly created police department allowed the Sheriff's Office to focus its manpower on enforcing orders of the court.
In 1963, the PGSO hired its first female deputy Annette J. Meyer, who was also the first female deputy sheriff in Maryland's history.
1994–2000: Funding cuts and vacancies
From December 12, 1994, to January 2000, the PGSO did not hire any new deputies or civilian employees, leaving the agency with 92 vacant positions that needed to be filled. Over that period, 66 deputies left the agency, some retiring routinely, others leaving due to increased workloads caused by vacant positions. In some cases, deputies worked sixteen hours in one day, eight in courtrooms, and eight serving warrants. In December 1994, the agency had 248 deputies, whereas on January 20, 2000, it only had 192 deputies, with 20 leaving from November 1998 to January 2000. In July 1996, the county government decreased the amount of funding the PGSO was receiving. Unlike the PGPD at the time, the PGSO was not nationally accredited and did not receive accreditation until 2018. Computers were also in short supply, and the few that were in use were outdated and obsolete.In 1996, the Southern Management Company, a firm responsible for managing residential apartments complexes, filed a lawsuit against the sheriff and the county government, with the plaintiffs alleging that they lost revenue due to the sheriff's office inability to evict tenants who were not paying their rent costs.
In 1998, Alonzo D. Black II was elected sheriff of Prince George's County. He was the first African American to be elected sheriff of Prince George's County.
In January 2000, it was revealed that the PGSO held seized money inside of a safe, ever since the previous sheriff’s term, and did not report it to higher authorities. In response to the news, the county council responded that they did not object to the PGSO's actions.
In February 2000, the county government attempted to gain 57 million dollars from the state government at a courthouse in Charles County, to cover the costs of having sheriff's deputies providing security at a district court since 1971. The state countered that the county was responsible for any of the costs incurred.
In March 2000, the county executive announced 1.4 billion dollar budget for the county's government in the 2001 fiscal year, which included funding increases for the sheriff's office.