Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Captured! Sheriff’s Most Wanted - Attempted First Degree Murder Suspect Arrested


The Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff reported the capture of Leo Gonzalez of Fort Washington, MD on an arrest warrant for Attempted First Degree Murder obtained by the County Police on December 29, 2016.

According to the warrant, on November 30, 2016, police responded to the 3800 block of 26th Avenue in Temple Hills MD for a reported shooting. When they arrived, they located a victim in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body. The victim was transported to the hospital trauma unit and listed in critical condition and a witness positively identified the suspect Gonzalez as the man who shot the victim. The victim indicated that he had known Gonzalez for one or two years.

Since receipt of the warrant, Sheriff’s Deputies have made numerous attempts to locate Gonzalez, not only in Prince George’s County, but also in Charles County and Washington D.C. Gonzalez’ picture was posted to the Sheriff’s Most Wanted on the county website, follow up interviews were conducted and multiple addresses were investigated with negative results. The warrant was also being investigated in partnership with the US Marshals Task Force (USMS). Having exhausted all leads, Deputies received a tip that led to an address in 6500 block of Buckland Ct. in Fort Washington MD. Surveillance was conducted at the location and Gonzalez was identified entering and exiting the residence.

On April 20th, a Deputy with members of the (USMS) Task Force knocked on the door of the residence to serve the warrant. Gonzalez looked through the window and appeared to run away. USMS made entry into the residence and found Gonzalez in the kitchen, ordered him to the ground and placed him into custody. A handgun was recovered on the counter directly beside where he was standing. Another gun was recovered, along with suspected ecstasy, CDS paraphernalia, and a large quantity of marijuana. The detective handling the case was notified and Gonzalez was transported to the District IV police station.

Gonzalez is also charged with Assault First Degree, Second Degree Assault, Handgun on Person, Firearm Use/ Felonious Violent Crime and Attempted Second Degree Murder.

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354.

Friday, April 6, 2018

68 Warrants Served in ‘Operation Broken Heart’ Sweep #PGSO

Upper Marlboro, MD… This week, the Sheriff’s Warrant/Fugitive Division conducted a warrant operation dubbed “Operation Broken Heart”, which began in the late hours Wednesday night into the early morning hours Thursday. Over 75 law enforcement officers which made up nine arrest teams participated in the operation. We collaborated with Maryland State Police, Maryland National Capital Park Police, Prince George’s County Police Department, Hyattsville Police Department, Glenarden Police Department, Bladensburg Police Department, Capitol Heights Police Department and Greenbelt Police Department.

The teams attempted service at 239 addresses that resulted in 55 arrests closing 68 warrants. The majority of the warrants served were Domestic Violence related, other warrants included Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, Robbery, Domestic Violence Assault Second Degree, Firearm Possession with Felony Conviction, Violate Exparte Order, Peace Order: Fail to Comply, Theft $1.500 to Under $2,500, Theft Scheme $1,000-$10,000 and CDS Possession, Not Marijuana.

During the sweep, Captain Paul Washington was notified by the Greenbelt City Police that a person with felony warrant for a Robbery with a Deadly Weapon was about to be released from Prince George’s Hospital. Captain Washington immediately sent an arrest team to the hospital to make apprehension. As a result of the cooperation between local law enforcement working together during ‘Operation Broken Heart’, the individual was arrested at the hospital without incident and transported to the Department of Corrections for processing.

Lt. Adam Taifouri, Commander of the Warrant/Fugitive Division said, “I appreciate the positive work ethic and dedication from every department who helped make this warrant sweep a success. We were able to capture violent offenders and domestic abusers and remove them to help make a safer community.”

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354.

Our Investment into the future! Sheriff High greets new PGSO employees. #PGSOisEverywhere



PGSO CALEA Accreditation & Body Worn Camera Roll-out




Thursday, April 5, 2018

CALEA Accreditation Unanimously Awarded to the Office of the Sheriff (Body-Worn Camera Program Roll-Out and Demonstration) #PGSO

Prince George’s County, Maryland… The Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff announced at a press conference today that it has been awarded a ‘Certificate of Accreditation’ from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) for the first time in the agency’s history. The Office of the Sheriff’s CALEA Team was officially notified of the award on March 24th in Dallas, TX. Sheriff High was awarded the certificate of accreditation by CALEA Executive Director, Mr. W. Craig Hartley, Jr.

CALEA standards require an established reporting process for monitoring and measuring performance. As such, it ensures best practices, continual growth and improvement, and a methodology to confirm that law enforcement agencies practice what is established in their written directives. Accreditation by CALEA represents the Office of the Sheriff’s completion of a comprehensive agency-wide self-evaluation that concludes with a rigorous outside review by a team of independent assessors. Accreditation has been sought by the agency for many years.

Sheriff High thanked County Executive Baker for his support of Public Safety in general and of the
Office of the Sheriff specifically, saying of the CALEA award, “This is yet another demonstration of the professionalism that is a great source of pride for us and for the men and women of the Agency. This ‘Certificate of Accreditation’ from CALEA – on our first time testing our work against their rigorous standards - is an outstanding validation of our General Orders that substantiates that our policies and procedures are clear and consistent with best practice guidelines for how we do our work every day.”

Chief Assistant Sheriff Darrin Palmer attended the CALEA conference in March, along with Captain Shawn Davenport and members of the CALEA Team said, “Our members depend on the integrity of our policies and procedures; accreditation tells citizens, government officials and our colleagues in law enforcement that our agency meets the highest professional standards.”

Captain Davenport, who said he was proud that the award came under his watch said, “This is a proud day in our agency’s history and I think we’re all proud and honored to be here at this time, continuing to demonstrate that we have the best interests of the citizens and our members firmly in the forefront of our mission.”

The press conference also included a presentation and demonstration of the Office of the Sheriff’s Body-Worn Camera Program and its plan for roll-out of the cameras. Lt. Brian Endlich, who spearheaded the camera project said, “In addition to developing and vetting our policy before we did anything, we also tested several of the best camera brands before we chose the one for our agency.”

Major Sharon Saunders, Deputy Bureau Chief and Commander of the Office of Professional Responsibility, in recognizing the CALEA Team staff said, “It’s been quite the experience and pleasure to be in command as we moved into the final phases of this work. The effort by them and all the members we depended on to help us get here makes this award truly an agency award.” Of the body-worn camera roll-out she said, “We are ready to roll-out body-worn cameras to help us do our work because we took the time we needed so that our training and implementation would be successful.”

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Together, We Can Shut Scammers Down!

From a National ABC News broadcast. PGSO has been warning people for years and telling them this is a much larger national issue, this highlights the concern, and nearly scammed a law professor.