Suspect in Md. Officer's Death Was Strangled

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White Family Urges Thorough Investigation

Attorney Bob Henry issues a statement on behalf of the White family regarding the investigation into Ronnie White's death.

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In the mid-1990s, relations grew particularly strained when a black burglary suspect was allegedly severely beaten while handcuffed during his arrest.

Four officers, three of whom were white, were charged in the beating. A racially mixed county jury cleared them, rejecting testimony from a black officer who said he saw the officers kick and hit the man. The suspect was later acquitted.

Such tensions have eased significantly in recent years, with the police force becoming more diverse and more black leaders being elected to top office. Johnson is black, as is Melvin C. High, the police chief. Mary Lou McDonough, the interim corrections director, is white.

"The county has progressed tremendously from where we were 25 years ago," said Earl Adams Jr., first vice president of the Prince George's NAACP chapter. "It's best we reserve judgment before we try to make it a racial issue."

Zalee Harris, an activist working to form a new county branch of the NAACP, said, "This is a potentially catastrophic event between the citizens and the police and the government."

"Unfortunately, this is not going to be a right versus wrong," she said. "Unfortunately, it will turn into a race issue."

Johnson expressed anger not only at the "horrid" death of a police officer but also at the apparent killing of the suspect in the case. "If we have vigilante justice, our society will fall apart," he said. "If we tolerate these kinds of acts, the courts are superfluous."

White, who was 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds, was considered a high-profile inmate because his alleged crime involved a law enforcement official, jail officials said. Herron said that, in keeping with standard protocol, White was to have been moved to another county's jail. He remained in Prince George's over the weekend because he was not taken to the jail until early Saturday.

Vicki D. Duncan, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said White was in a room roughly 70 square feet with four solid walls and a solid door with a small window and a slot for meal trays.

Duncan could not say the last time guards might have opened the door. "They open it when they need to," she said. "We don't keep track of when doors are opened."

White's slaying is the latest in a series of problems at the correctional center. This year, a guard who was allegedly a member of the Bloods street gang was arrested on charges of supplying cellphones to inmates; another was charged with armed robbery and assault; two inmates were found to have keys; and a detainee was wounded when he was allegedly attacked by seven gang members in a holding area. On June 4, the director of corrections was fired after four handguns disappeared from the jail armory.

A jail employee who spoke on condition of anonymity said any officer can enter the unit where White was held. "If you want to go and get in there, you can get in there," said the employee, who was not authorized to speak publicly. "If you want to get to somebody, you can."