Pr. George's Police Struggle to Fill Roster

For seven years as an officer with Prince George's County police, Joseph Hudson felt his frustration mount like a tightening vise.

Even on the good days, he drove from crime scene to crime scene in the Clinton district, trying to cope on a chronically short-handed police force. Sometimes, he'd hear on his radio that 25 emergency calls were on hold and five officers were available to respond.

On other days, he said, he thought commanders interfered too much -- especially after the U.S. Justice Department began investigating whether police used excessive force. Instead of making Prince George's safer, Hudson, a thick-muscled man with a buzz cut and biceps as big as footballs, felt as if he were the one in handcuffs.

"Every day I'd wonder whether it was worth it," he said.

Tired of feeling outnumbered and overmanaged, he took a $13,000 pay cut in 2002 to become a sheriff's deputy in Calvert County. He was named deputy of the year for 2004.

Hudson, 34, is part of a vexing public safety issue for the county. At a time when homicides are up 60 percent from this time last year and the force needs every good officer it can muster, Prince George's police are unable to function at full strength. Budgeted for 1,420 members, the county currently has 1,356 sworn officers.

Even that figure doesn't reflect actual street strength. On any given day, officers are on personal or sick leave, testifying in court, receiving in-service training or on limited duty.

The staffing problem is chronic: It has been at least a decade since the department filled all available jobs. Starting in 1989, when the Prince George's population was about 125,000 less than it is today, then-County Executive Parris N. Glendening pledged to expand the force to 1,400 to better serve the 500-square-mile territory.

"There may have been a time, years ago, it happened for a day or two," said the current county executive's spokesman, Jim Keary. "Not any time recent."

The shortage is taking on new urgency. Homicide rates have hurtled upward -- 148 last year, up 20 from the year before. There have also been sharp increases in rapes, carjackings and robberies this year from the same period in 2004. Residents of crime-ridden apartment complexes complain that they could, in the words of one, "run a marathon" before police respond to calls.

The issue has become politically potent. Reducing crime and improving police service were core themes of County Executive Jack B. Johnson's 2002 campaign. As the 2006 election approaches, he and other county officials are being called to account.

"We do not have enough officers on our streets. This is the single biggest reason why crime is so high in Prince George's County," said Rushern L. Baker III, a former state delegate who is expected to challenge Johnson in next year's Democratic primary.