Fortunes of Executive, Safety Official Entwined In Pr. George's County

Johnson, Officer Who Shot 2 Men, Seemed to Benefit From Ties

In a heated race in 2002 to become executive of Prince George's County, Jack B. Johnson needed an ally in the police department to counter vigorous opposition from the officers union. He had one in Cpl. Keith A. Washington.

"There are a lot of police officers who support Jack Johnson," Washington told a crowd of hundreds as the candidate launched his successful campaign.

Since January, however, when Washington shot two unarmed furniture deliverymen, one fatally, Johnson has distanced himself from his former ally. "We are not friends," he said at one point. Johnson also has said that he "never promoted" Washington and that the media have overstated the importance of the county homeland security job he gave Washington.

Yet a close examination suggests that, in the political calculus, each man has benefited from his connection to the other. Their fortunes intertwined, Johnson's political career blossomed as Washington -- an officer deemed too unstable for regular duty for a time a decade earlier -- emerged as an influential figure in county public safety matters.

Washington, who was a driver for Johnson during the campaign, assumed a key position in the transition team, interviewing his boss, the police chief. Johnson named Washington to serve on a development panel and as deputy director of homeland security, credentials Washington used last year as he ran for County Council.

Johnson said this week that the two met during the campaign and that, afterward, Washington was merely an officer assigned to be his driver. His relationship with Washington was similar to that with "thousands of people who helped me in the campaign," he said.

"Nobody can define my personal relationship with people," he said. "I've learned in life that no matter what you do or what you say, people have their own opinions."

Washington, who has said he acted in self-defense in the Jan. 24 shootings, has been charged with murder and attempted murder. After 17 years with the police department, he retired on medical disability last month.

A phone number for Washington, 46, at his home in Accokeek no longer works. His attorney, Vincent Cohen Jr., declined to comment for this article.

Johnson and Washington are brothers in the collegiate fraternity Omega Psi Phi. Two members said many brothers view Johnson's recent comments as a desertion of a loyal friend. Some are "totally incensed," one said, adding that Johnson could have acknowledged a relationship without taking a position on the shootings.

"There's nothing wrong," he said, "with saying: 'The guy's my friend. We had a long-standing relationship, and he's a guy who put his career on the line to support me.' "

The fraternity members spoke on condition of anonymity, as did more than a dozen other sources interviewed for this article, because of the sensitive legal and political implications of the shootings.