Prior to the creation of the Prince George's County Police Department in 1931, the PGSO was the sole county-level law enforcement agency.

[19] During the War of 1812, which lasted from 1812 to 1815, an incident occurred at the time of the burning of Washington, D.C., when the sheriff's office became involved in an occurrence that led to the writing of the U.S. national anthem.

[20] During the war, an incident occurred involving the Prince George's County jail, when local resident Dr. William Beanes, (1775–1824) captured several marauding British Army deserters from the passing army of General General Robert Ross (1766–1814) and Vice Admiral, Sir George Cockburn, (1772–1853), and held them in the County Jail, after he had treated several wounded "Redcoat" soldiers in their march on to Washington and the disastrous Battle of Bladensburg on the Eastern Branch stream of the Anacostia River in August 1814.

Later he was arrested along with several others including Robert Bowie, former 11th Governor of Maryland (1803–06, 1811–12) by retreating British cavalry on orders from Ross who had stayed in his home as headquarters.

Later Francis Scott Key (1779–1843), a Georgetown and Frederick lawyer with Col. John S. Skinner, U.S. Prisoner-of-War and Parole Agent went to Baltimore secured a small sailing ship, the Minden, and sailed down the Patapsco River and the Chesapeake Bay to find the British Royal Navy fleet after leaving the Patuxent River, beating up the Bay from their base on Tangier Island, Virginia heading for their attack on the hated "nest of pirates" - Baltimore.

After being received and negotiating with General Ross, Admiral Cockburn and their superior, Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, (1758–1832), and showing him some letters written by captured British wounded soldiers testifying to the fair treatment Beanes had given them and tended to them, they agreed to free him but that would be held up until they could celebrate after the Burning of Baltimore following their attack on Fort McHenry and landing troops to the east at North Point.

Well, the famous story has been told, how the general was killed prior to the skirmishing at the Battle of North Point on September 12, how the advancing British under successor, Colonel Arthur Brooke led the British regiments to face the 20,000 drafted and volunteer citizens and militia under the command of Major General Samuel Smith, (1752–1839), of the Maryland Militia on the eastern heights of "Loudenschlager's Hill" (later known as "Hampstead Hill" in modern Patterson Park, between Highlandtown and Canton neighborhoods) whose dug-in fortifications and dragged cannon were so numerous that the "Redcoats" halted in their tracks and decided to await the shelling of the fort which guarded the entrances to the Harbor to pass into the inner port and the waterfront of Fells Point.

When they landed at "The Basin" (modern "Inner Harbor") and Key finished up his draft of a new poem "The Defence of Fort McHenry" at the Indian Queen Hotel at West Baltimore and Hanover Streets, (later to be set to music in a few days) and sung lustily through the city, performed on the stage at the famed Holliday Street Theatre, and then soon throughout the state and soon the nation as "The Star Spangled Banner".

[25] In January 2000, it was revealed that the PGSO held seized money inside of a safe, ever since the previous sheriff’s term, and did not report it to higher authorities.

[34][35][36] The vote, they claimed, was issued due to allegations that the sheriff made against members of the agency, in which he said they were deliberately malingering in order to reflect badly on him.

[34][35][36] The sheriff rejected the allegations as unfounded and voiced his displeasure over the vote, calling them politically motivated due to their proximity to the primary elections, which was only weeks away at the time.

[38] On the evening of Thursday, August 29, 2002, two PGSO sheriff's deputies, Corporal James V. Arnaud, aged 53, and Deputy Elizabeth R. Licera Magruder, aged 30, were killed in the line of duty while trying to serve an Emergency Petition Service (EPS), a court-ordered psychological evaluation, on James Ramiah Logan, a 23-year-old part-time computer technician, drug dealer, and High Point High School graduate.

[39][45][46][47][48][49] At approximately 9:25 p.m. on the night of August 29, 2002, Corporal Arnaud and Deputy Magruder arrived at the residence of James Ramiah Logan, a 23-year-old man and convicted felon who lived at his parents' single-story rambler house at 9332 Lynmont Drive in Adelphi, Maryland, near the Buck Lodge Middle School.

A few days earlier, on August 26, Logan had been examined by a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia and recommended that he be admitted to a medical institution to receive treatment for his mental health.

He had been arrested by a Maryland state trooper who had found cocaine, marijuana, and a .38 caliber handgun in Logan's automobile after stopping him as he was driving with Kromah and another man in St. Mary's County.

[39] Magruder called for assistance over her radio at 9:34 p.m.[39] Logan retrieved a semi-automatic 9mm-chambered handgun and fired at Arnaud while partially hidden behind a closet door, and one bullet struck him in the throat and severed his carotid artery.

[39][37] Logan walked over and checked on Magruder and then went over to the room where Arnaud had retreated to and while standing over him, shot him four more times, injuring his liver and inducing severe internal bleeding which would ultimately prove to be fatal.

Still showing signs of life, Magruder was airlifted on a medical helicopter to the Prince George's Hospital Center, with CPR being applied on her while en route.

[65] Logan was apprehended two days after the murder, on August 31, 2002, at a boiler room shed near the Quebec Arms Apartments in Hyattsville, Maryland, on the 8200 block of 14th Avenue.

[67] After his capture, Logan was taken to the Prince George's Hospital Center, where he received stitches and sutures, being treated for canine bites on his ankle and arms.

[56] After receiving medical treatment for his injuries, Logan was taken to a police station, where he was interrogated for approximately three-and-a-half hours by Vincent "Vince" Canales, a PGPD detective, where he admitted to the murders.

The interrogation was recorded by a camera and stored onto a VHS cassette tape and DVD, the contents of which would later be used in his murder trial as evidence to assist in convicting him.

[70][71] However, the state's prosecution argued that any mental deficiencies Logan had were brought about by his usage of illegal narcotics, such as cocaine and marijuana, and as such, he would be legally responsible for the murders.

[53][54][75] Despite his conviction, Logan's attorneys tried to appeal to the courts, with the one-hundred year prison sentence being unanimously upheld by a three-judge judicial panel on June 15, 2004.

[80] In the retrial, the prosecution used the same argument it had used in the original trial back in 2003, arguing that Logan's insanity defense was illegitimate due to his usage of illegal controlled substances.

[82][83] The murders occurred eleven days before the Maryland Democratic Party's primary election to determine its candidate for the office of Prince George's County sheriff.

The sheriff of Prince George's County, John D. B. Carr, and surviving relatives of Arnaud voiced their disapproval upon learning of the early release and vowed to urge the state to abolish diminution credits for the murderers of law enforcement officers in the future.

The raid team did not coordinate their action with the local police department as required by mutual agreement, nor did they did not obtain a warrant or knock on the door to announce their presence.

[119] The PGSO's Bureau of Administration is based out of the main headquarters located in Upper Marlboro and contains the School Resource, Public Information Office (PIO), Recruiting, Training, and Internal Affairs.

The division is commanded by an assistant bureau chief and has different teams specifically responsible for: SST (SWAT)-response, executive and witness protection, riot control, crisis negotiations, intelligence gathering, motorcycle escort, and ceremonial duties.