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GREENSBORO – On September 17, just two days after the official start of Hispanic Heritage month, Greensboro welcomed its new Chief of Police, Officer Prendi Garcia. Garcia is the first Hispanic Chief of Police to serve any town within Caroline County, a feat the Maryland State Police retiree takes great pride in.
“I’m glad I speak Spanish and English,” Garcia said, “it’s a blessing just to talk to people.” He said the impact of his bilinguality is better summed up in a real-world example; just that morning he had pulled over a coincidentally Hispanic individual for a routine traffic stop, and he watched the man visibly relax when Garcia began speaking Spanish. “He’s got this big old grin,” Garcia said, “he felt so comfortable, very polite, provided all his documents… and said thank you so much.”
Small moments like those, Garcia believes, build the foundation of trust in a small community like Greensboro. “Even here talking to the little kids that see me, and then I start speaking Spanish to them. They ask for hugs,” he said. And as for the parents, “you can just see that they feel so much more comfortable.”
But his bilinguality is far from Garcia’s only advantage in the new position.
His path to Greensboro starts in a small town in southwest Texas. He calls his hometown of then 1,800 residents “very similar to Greensboro.” As a boy, he watched and admired the Texas Highway Patrol troopers. “I made it my goal that one day I would become a Trooper,” he said. Once he got the chance to be mentored by some of these troopers, they helped him lay out a plan for his future: join the military, get an education, hold yourself to a high standard, and the rest will fall into place. “They told me that in order for me to be a Trooper, I had to be a man of honor, a man of courage, and a man of integrity,” he recalled.
So Garcia joined the U.S. Army in 1992, serving about ten years in active duty with deployments “all over the world”, including Europe and Cuba. Along the way, he earned a bachelor’s degree. Then in 2002, he realized his childhood dream and became a Maryland State Trooper. His first assignment was at the Easton barrack.
“The very first thing they asked me when I got there was, ‘Do you speak Spanish?’” he said through laughter. He explained that since the Hispanic population in and around Caroline County was growing at the time, that is where the State Police chose to assign him to patrol. Over the next two decades, he served as an Investigator, Drug Task Force Officer, and, later, a Commander overseeing multiple barracks and wide swaths of the state. “I learned that as I move up the ranks, I can affect more people and help more people,” he said. Garcia also made history as the first Hispanic captain with the Maryland State Police.
Garcia is now leading a Police Department composed of just himself, “But there’s really not that much difference from what I was doing with the Maryland State Police,” he said, “I’m not here scratching my head, ‘What should I do? What can I do?’ I’m more of, ‘I’m getting the job done.’”
Part of that job means helping Greensboro move past recent turmoil involving the Greensboro Police Department. Garcia is blunt that he was not involved in what transpired before his arrival, but, “I will treat anybody, regardless, moving forward from this point on, with dignity and respect,” he said.
Looking ahead, Garcia’s vision centers on rebuilding and deepening community ties and trust. He said that he is currently working on a 30, 60, and 90‑day review of crime trends, incidents, and community concerns to establish a baseline for him to work from.
“First and foremost, I have to put the Department back to the level of professionalism that it needs,” he said. High-visibility policing will also be a key strategy. Once he understands when and where crimes like thefts, shoplifting, malicious destruction of property, domestic disputes, and nuisance offenses are happening, he plans to direct officers accordingly.
“High visibility enforcement is when you have data collected and you’re seeing when crimes are being conducted,” Garcia explained, “Once I understand where that timeline is, I’m going to put and direct the Officers to be in those areas during those times… I want them to be seen.”
For Garcia, visibility is as much about relationships as deterrence. He envisions Officers walking the streets when weather allows, talking with residents, and making it easier for people to call when something seems off. “I don’t want our community to be afraid to come and talk to us,” he said.
To further cement those relationships, Garcia is planning to pilot two new programs in the near future: a Greensboro Police Explorer Program for youth ages 14 to 21, and a Citizens Police Academy for adults.
At the Explorer level, he said, “that’s where you’re developing a lot of your beliefs, values, morals.” He hopes the program will help youth learn public speaking, writing, and how to “communicate and resolve issues or concerns or problems in a professional manner… and really become a productive member of our community or our society.” The Citizens Police Academy will be geared toward adults 18 and older and will teach participants more about the inner workings of a Police Department, with the goal of encouraging more young adults to go into policing.
His first priority, though, is bolstering staffing at the Greensboro Police Department. Right now, Greensboro is not a 24‑hour department and leans heavily on the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police. “In order to have an effective and efficient Department, we have to have the manpower and the staffing,” Garcia said. Without that, “we’re always going to play catch up,” he said. The Town is actively hiring certified Officers and a part‑time administrative aide with, according to Garcia, competitive pay.
Garcia, who now lives in Cambridge with his wife, says he is “falling in love with the community” in Greensboro. “I’ve had nothing but great experiences with everybody here,” he said, “That’s the small town community that I’ve been looking for and want to be part of.”
