By Melissa J. Brachfeld

Sentinel Staff Writer

One hundred and sixty police academy students stood behind Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and Police Chief Melvin C. High last Wednesday as they announced that they will attempt to push the chronically short-staffed department's ranks to up to 1,478 officers, the highest number in the county's history.

The announcement was made at the new Prince George's County Police Academy in Capitol Heights and comes about a month after the county broke its record for its highest number of murders since 1991. So far this year, 167 homicides have been reported with the previous high being 154 in 1991.

"This is a day we can all be proud of," Johnson said. "Because of the hard work and collaboration of people in many county agencies, we have delivered what we promised to the people of Prince George's County—a police force growing to meet the needs of a growing county."

Chief High said the new class of recruits represents that the police department is coming back from a decline and now working to achieve success.

"This department was woefully understaffed, without a recruitment strategy to maintain our force and keep up with the pace of attrition," he said. "The difference in service that we can achieve with each new officer who hits the streets will be noticeable to the community."

With a new class of recruits that began work last week and 43 student officers scheduled to complete their training in March, there will be 160 new officers on the force by late next summer. Assuming 95 officers retire, resign or change careers over the course of a year, county officials predict there will be 1,470 new sworn officers on the streets by the end of August.

The police department's previous staffing high was 1,430 in March 2000, including 80 recruits in the academy. In 2004, Johnson pledged to hire at least 150 officers each year through 2010. The new recruits that will be sworn in next year would put the county executive slightly above his goal.

"Crime reduction is something that has overwhelmed this county," Councilwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Clinton) said. "Hopefully after today, this will show people that we have been listening."

Sharon Taylor, a public relations officer for the Office of the County Executive and the police department, said the police department began an aggressive recruitment campaign at the end of June 2005, which includes print, television and radio advertisements. In addition, she said the department is about to launch a Web site that will focus on recruitment.

"These officers are the foundation for the future of Prince George's County," Johnson said. "From them, we will build a stronger Prince George's County so our residents can worship in peace, our families can work together and our children can play in our parks without the fear of crime."

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