Prince George’s County police honor fallen officers with posthumous promotions

The Prince George’s County Police Department used posthumous promotions to honor fallen officers, a formal personnel action that speaks to both the force’s history and the strain that every line-of-duty death leaves on a department serving nearly 900,000 residents and business owners.

PGPD is the fourth largest law enforcement agency in Maryland, with more than 1,500 police officers and 300 civilians. Founded on June 1, 1931, the department relies on its Police Personnel Division to handle promotions and demotions, making the honor more than ceremonial. It is part of the department’s staffing structure, even when it is awarded after an officer’s death.

The department’s remembrance page lists Edward Rabain, who died in 2015, Jacai Colson, who died in 2016, and Mujahid Ramzziddin, who died in 2018, among the officers lost in the line of duty. Their names remain central to how the department marks sacrifice and remembers the toll that policing has taken on Prince George’s County.

Those losses also resonate beyond police headquarters. Each death leaves a gap in a large county agency that must keep answering calls, covering districts and supporting specialized units across the county. In a department of this size, fallen officers are not only remembered in ceremony, they are part of the long-term institutional memory that shapes how PGPD staffs and honors its own ranks.

The tribute also aligns with a broader Maryland tradition. Fallen Heroes Day is held each year on the first Friday in May at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, which describes it as the only statewide ceremony recognizing all branches of the public safety community. The observance brings together police, fire and other public safety families to honor those who died in the line of duty.

Prince George’s County Lodge 89 of the Fraternal Order of Police, which says it represents about 3,000 active and retired PGPD officers, has also kept that memory alive through its fallen-heroes roster and final roll call. Together, those honors show how the county’s police department continues to connect staffing, service and sacrifice long after an officer’s death.