Johnson, Officer Who Shot 2 Men, Seemed to Benefit From Ties
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Candace Rondeaux
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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.
As a candidate in 2002, Johnson pledged to stamp out police abuse, a priority he had also embraced as a prosecutor. The union, which accused him of unfairly prosecuting police officers for political gain, pledged to raise $100,000 to defeat him. Tensions ran so high that Johnson objected to having officers guard ballots on Election Day. He was the only candidate to skip the union's May rally, where the song "Hit the Road Jack" blared.
On the election trail, Washington was a ubiquitous presence, campaign workers said. One said Washington often worked a full shift as a police officer and then, on his own time, ferried Johnson from event to event late into the night.
In some respects, Washington was an unusual choice for an ally. He had come under investigation at least four times over allegations that he used excessive force -- each was deemed unfounded -- and had been sued twice, including once by a D.C. police officer who said Washington assaulted him and had him falsely arrested.
That case was dismissed after the plaintiff was fatally shot in 1997 during a traffic dispute. The plaintiff in the other lawsuit was awarded $260,000, but the verdict was overturned on appeal.
And, although Johnson has said he learned of it only recently, Washington had been placed on restricted duty for more than a year in the mid-1990s after doctors and department officials concluded that his inability to handle the stress of regular police work made him a potential danger, records show. A psychiatrist wrote in a 1995 evaluation that Washington had "fits of internal rage" and "fleeting homicidal and suicidal thoughts."
At a victory celebration in a Greenbelt hotel on the night of the Democratic primary, Washington was one of only a handful of campaign workers to be called to the stage to be individually recognized by Johnson, said several sources who attended the event.
After the election, Washington was named to a transition team panel that interviewed, among others, then-Police Chief Gerald M. Wilson. Washington's involvement did not go over well with Wilson, who bristled at the idea of answering to a subordinate, said two sources familiar with the panel's activities. "He was persona non grata until his horse won the race," one of the sources said of Washington. "After that, he sought to become a power broker."
Johnson said last month that Washington was his driver for only one month. He said this week that Washington worked as his driver for three months and then said he could not recall how long Washington served in the role.
In a trial transcript in an unrelated court case, county Office of Central Services Director Pamela H. Piper said Washington served on the security detail into 2004, more than a year after Johnson took office. Prince George's officials have declined to say how long Washington was assigned to the security team.
In November 2003, Johnson appointed Washington to the volunteer Accokeek Development Review District Commission, a group that advises the county planning board about development in the rural Accokeek region.
Jean Thompson, the group's chairwoman for six years, said a Johnson aide told her in spring 2004 that the executive wanted to make Washington the chairman. Thompson said she was worried because the corporal had limited experience with development and had a reputation for volatility.
Rather than serve under Washington, Thompson resigned. Johnson did not name Washington to lead the panel.
Washington's influence in county government expanded again in February 2004, when Piper named him chairman of a five-member purchasing panel responsible for reviewing bids for the installation of a sophisticated security system at two county buildings.
The work was valued at more than $1.1 million, but the county also hoped to install similar systems in 141 other buildings, putting the winner in a strong position to receive work potentially worth tens of millions more, according to court testimony and a former county official with knowledge of the bids.
One of the companies seeking the contract reported that county officials had solicited bribes from them, prompting an investigation in which two officials were convicted. Neither Washington nor Piper was implicated. She testified at length about Washington's role in the bid process.
Piper, a Johnson appointee, testified that Washington was "kind of a key person" driving the security contract even before the panel was formed. She said Washington asked to be named to the panel. In an interview, Johnson said he did not recall the appointment, and his spokesman called it "irrelevant" because it was Piper's decision.
A former government official who was involved in the process said Washington's role was unusual. "There wasn't another corporal who was head of the most powerful [contract-awarding panel] in government, who became a deputy director, who was in the inner circle," the former official said.
In August 2004, although Washington had been temporarily suspended after an off-duty scuffle seven months before, Johnson named him to the homeland security job.
Johnson has lately described the job as "only a liaison" between police and the homeland security office. But when he announced the selection of Washington, Johnson said, "There are few appointments as important as this one."
At the time, county officials said Washington would be paid $73,000 a year. The county has since repeatedly declined to release further details about his salary.
Last year, Washington launched his political career by challenging County Council member Marilynn Bland (D-Clinton). "He made a lot of his ties to Jack Johnson," said Kelly Canavan, a civic leader who interviewed the candidates. "He would say Jack and he were really tight."
But Bland was the only council member who reliably voted with Johnson. The executive refused for months to make a public endorsement. Then, a week before the election, Johnson's slate contributed about $1,822 to Washington's effort.
Even so, Bland prevailed. On Aug. 14, two weeks after he was indicted, Washington formally closed his campaign committee.
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