Prince George's County looks to tax incentives to combat police and firefighter shortage

LANDOVER, Md. (7News) — The police and firefighter staff shortage in Prince George’s County has gotten so bad that the police department is now traveling more than 1,500 miles to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in search of officers.

Over the past several years the county has struggled to keep up with retirements and officers quitting the force.

Currently, the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) is down more than 300 police officers, and the fire department is looking to hire at least another 100 firefighters.

The county is now considering other incentives, including a $2,500 property tax credit. Legislation was just introduced to give a property tax credit for public safety officers whose primary residence is in Prince George's County.

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Under the legislation, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, correctional officers, police officers, and even deputy sheriffs employed full-time would be eligible to receive a credit.

“What is causing this mandatory overtime for a lot of firefighters, And a lot of firefighters are considering leaving because when they are ready to go home they can’t go home because we are short-staffed. With police officers, it’s sort of a similar thing where we are down about 400 police officers, at least over 300 police officers. And many of them are saying, we are losing them after five years,” said Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay.

Currently, the fire department has about 1,800 professional firefighters and paramedics. However, the number of volunteer firefighters is dropping quickly.

One weekend last month had at least 16 Fire and EMS stations reduced to three responders.

The union says that’s dangerously short of what’s considered the national standard for staffing, below what the county’s labor contract requires. The fire department currently has 18 fire recruits scheduled to complete their training next month. They hope to hire an additional 80 employees this fiscal year.

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As crime is rising across the region, local officials tell 7News that many incidents are going unattended to. Police officers and paramedics in Prince George’s County are being spread dangerously thin. And this is a time of year when things get even more dire, trying to cover events at two county universities, FedEx Field and the National Harbor. The union That represents emergency responders says it’s not just a staffing issue it’s a budgetary problem.

Vice Chair Blegay says the property tax credit aims to address staffing shortages by providing an incentive for public safety officers to move into the County.

"Less than a third of our law enforcement lives in the county. Most of them are buying homes outside of the county and there’s a bit of community policing aspect that you want the person who really monitors your districts to keep you safe to live in your community. That means they have more of a vested interest,” said Blegay.

The 16 firehouses that saw staffing shortages last month include fire companies 805 in Capitol Heights, 816 Bowie Northview, 818 Glenn Dale, 820 Upper Marlboro, 823 Forestville, 830 Landover Hills, 832 Allentown Road 835 Greenbelt, 838 Chapel Oaks, 840 Brandywine, 841 Calverton, 842 Oxon Hill-Glassmanor, 846 Largo, 844 Chillum, 845 Croom, and 848 Lanham.

The legislation goes for a committee vote next week, sponsors hope to have it passed by the end of November.