Prince George's County hires Dallas Police veteran as new police chief
LARGO, Md. - Prince George's County has hired a Dallas law enforcement veteran as its new police chief. Malik Aziz, former deputy chief with the Dallas Police Department was introduced Friday.
Aziz is a 29-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department. County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said his expertise in community policing and a strong record in crime reduction is what ultimatley drew her to Aziz.
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Aziz will formally take over for Interim Police Chief Hector Velez on May 9.
The County Executive's office says the decision was made "after a thorough and comprehensive national search" that began last summer and included community input. It also comes nine months after allegations of discrimination and racism led to the abrupt resignation of Prince George's County former top cop.
In June of last year, former chief Hank Stawinski resigned from his position following the release of a 94-page report that claimed "widespread patterns of discrimination and racism permeate the entire department."
Last year FOX 5 reported a lawsuit, which was filed nearly two and a half years ago by 13 then-current and former PGPD officers, claimed that the department treated white officers differently than officers of color.
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The 94-page report was written by Michael Graham, a former top official with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and a recognized expert on police practices.
Graham was given access to some internal affairs files, as well as county police training procedures, and came to the conclusion that officers of color are treated differently.
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In the report, which was heavily redacted, Graham wrote that then-current leadership on the force appeared to have made deliberate choices not to track or monitor its performance in these matters.
He goes on to say there was a pattern of retaliation against officers of color when they complained about the conduct of white officers and that leadership condoned the retaliation.