Integrity, Compliance, and Police Accountability

Cynthia A. Bridgford, J.D., is the Inspector General and Director of the Office of Integrity, Compliance, and Police Accountability for Prince George’s County, Maryland.  Ms. Bridgford considered it an honor to join the administration of County Executive Aisha N. Braveboy in June 2025.  The agency’s mission is to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity within Prince George’s County law enforcement agencies through rigorous oversight, impartial investigations, and proactive reviews aimed at detecting and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse while promoting public trust and upholding the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct.

Ms. Bridgford comes to the role with almost twenty-five years of public service as a criminal prosecutor.  Prior to beginning her career as a prosecutor, Ms. Bridgford clerked for the Honorable Roderick “Rick” Stout on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama (Mobile County).  Following her clerkship, Ms. Bridgford joined the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office where she served for 14 years.  During her tenure in Montgomery County, she prosecuted crimes ranging from alcohol-related driving offenses and misdemeanors to felonies including rape, child physical and sex abuse, narcotics distribution, kidnapping, armed and unarmed carjackings, firearms offenses, residential and commercial burglaries, and murder.

In 2016, Ms. Bridgford joined the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor in the Strategic Investigations Unit where she prosecuted gang-related crimes of violence including homicides, violent repeat offenders, and violent felony strings.  In 2018, Ms. Bridgford was appointed Assistant Chief of the Major Crimes Unit to supervise and provide guidance to prosecutors handling general felony offenses.

When State’s Attorney Aisha N. Braveboy was elected in 2018, Ms. Bridgford was appointed Chief of the Strategic Investigations Unit where she served until being appointed Deputy State’s Attorney in 2021. As Deputy, Ms. Bridgford oversaw the Strategic Investigations Unit, the District Court Unit that prosecuted misdemeanors and incarcerable traffic offenses, and the Special Prosecutions Unit that prosecuted complex economic crimes, arson, and vehicular homicides. In addition, Ms. Bridgford served as training liaison to law enforcement agencies and community groups – both teaching and coordinating trainings on legal issues as well as the overall function of the court system.  Ms. Bridgford also led the effort to recruit, hire, and train attorneys as prosecutors in all units within the State’s Attorney’s Office leading the office to have if not the lowest, at least one of the lowest, vacancy rates in the county government.

Ms. Bridgford holds a Bachelor of Science Degree, cum laude, in Inter-Disciplinary Social Sciences with a Teaching Certification in Secondary Education from James Madison University and a Juris Doctorate from the Washington College of Law at American University.  She is also a member of the Association of Inspectors General.

When not serving, Ms. Bridgford is devoted to her family – her husband of almost twenty-five years and her son who will be attending college locally and playing collegiate baseball.  In addition to her family and career commitments, Ms. Bridgford served as a volunteer on the Finance Committee of the Montgomery Child Care Association, multiple terms as President of her neighborhood Citizens’ Association, and multiple terms as President of the Parent-Teacher Association during her son’s primary and middle school education.