In Prince George's, too many police on the wrong side of the law

SOMETHING is amiss in the Prince George's County Police Department. Some 46 officers - about 3 percent of the 1,500-strong force - are accused or suspected of misconduct and have been suspended or assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of investigations. This is an alarming number, and it suggests problems at the heart of one of the largest police departments in the mid-Atlantic states.

To put the county's problems in perspective, consider these comparable figures from other area police forces: In Fairfax and Montgomery counties, with departments of about 1,200 officers each, just five or six officers have been suspended or transferred to desk work for suspected misbehavior. In Arlington County, the number is zero. In the District, 45 officers fall into that category, but that still represents just over 1 percent of the city's 3,940 officers.

The problems in Prince George's are even more alarming when considered up close. According to The Post's Matt Zapotosky, the officers who are in hot water include 10 charged with crimes that include drunken driving; assault; drug possession; drug dealing; and providing cover for black market sales of cigarettes and booze.

Nine others are suspected of various other criminal wrongdoing, some specified - sexual assault and theft - and some not. At least seven officers are suspected of having used excessive force and in six of those cases, the incidents were recorded on tape. Still other officers are in trouble for incompetence, such as one who failed to detect that a suspect under arrest was carrying a gun, which was only found once he arrived at the jail.

In a novel bit of spin control, Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton says these numbers are evidence not of a problem but of his vigilance. That won't wash. Chief Hylton has been praised in the past as an able administrator, and he has taken credit for helping cut the county's crime rate. More recently, though, he has been lax in dealing with symptoms of what appear to be broader problems.

Last spring, he was passive in the face of allegations - quickly confirmed by videotape - that the county's riot police, without provocation, beat a University of Maryland student senseless as he took part in celebrating a basketball victory. The chief has also taken a dismissive stance toward allegations of widespread cheating at his department's cadet training academy.

A new Prince George's County executive, Rushern L. Baker III, takes office next Monday. Among his immediate priorities should be a review of the performance of county police, and of the police chief, who serves at the county executive's pleasure. Despite progress, the county still has one of the highest crime rates in this region. It can ill afford incompetence, abuse and criminal behavior within the ranks.