By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Political Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
After much anticipation, Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced his “aggressive” all-of-government approach to public safety, through his legislative priorities for 2024.
Moore recently announced three pieces of legislation that he will sponsor and potentially testify on behalf of during the hearings for the bills.
“We introduce the Victim Compensation Reform Act,” said Moore to members of the press gathered at the Maryland State House on Jan. 9. “This bill will ensure that victims of crimes can count on support when they need it most. When people feel safe and feel like justice will be served, then we have a better chance of getting a conviction and actually closing cases. By forming stronger bonds with victims of crime, we can help with the cycle of violence in our community.”
Moore said he’ll also introduce the Growing Apprenticeships and Public Safety Act (GAPS Act) this session.
“Law enforcement is vital to the safety of our communities. We have a responsibility to recruit, train, and retain quality law enforcement officers,” said Moore. “This legislation will build stronger pipelines to law enforcement jobs for all Marylanders, even those who do not pursue a four-year college degree.”
The third bill will create a new Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention in the Maryland Department of Health.
“We have got to confront this inexcusable fact that 75 percent of all homicides in Maryland are committed with a gun,” said Moore. “This is a public safety crisis, but it is also a public health crisis. We have got to get these illegal guns off of our streets, and we will. This legislation marks an important step forward to making that happen.”
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention organization, about 796 people die and 1,363 are wounded in Maryland by gunfire every year. The rate of gun deaths increased by 54 percent from 2012 to 2021, compared to a 39 percent increase nationally. Gun homicides increased 91 percent in Maryland compared to 73 percent throughout the U.S.
President Biden created the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention a few months ago and encouraged other states to do the same.
“From suicide to domestic violence, mass shootings and everyday community violence, our communities are being torn apart,” said Rob Wilcox, deputy director of the White House office for gun violence prevention. “ led the way in passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – a law that has funded the hiring and training of 14,000 new school counselors – 500 who will be in the state of Maryland.”
“What we need is an ecosystem where the federal government and agencies have partners at the state level partners at the local level so we can make sure important funding dollars and enforcing priorities get to where they need to go,” said Wilcox.
Moore said he’ll also support moving crimes related to illegal guns from misdemeanors to felonies and lengthening probation for juveniles guilty of violent crimes.
“The hallmark of what I hope to see in any juvenile justice legislation that is going to make it to my desk can be summarized in one word: accountability. We need accountability for the kids that are repeatedly violating the law.”
Gov Wes Moore
“The hallmark of what I hope to see in any juvenile justice legislation that is going to make it to my desk can be summarized in one word: accountability. We need accountability for the kids that are repeatedly violating the law,” said Moore. “I believe in rehabilitation, but we need accountability for the young person who picked up a handgun and threatened the safety of their neighbors. You cannot destroy the lives of other people and believe there will be no consequences.”
Last year, Moore announced the release of $122 million to support local police departments, $11 million to the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, and $35 million for crime victims.
“He didn’t really embrace legislative ideas that would actually bring accountability,” said Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Md.-05). “The rhetoric is great, and we agree that accountability needs to be the watchword and that the entire state government needs to be focused on accountability for criminal activity, but there’s still a lot of fluff and not real, concrete commitments to embrace legislation that will put more criminals behind bars.”
Republican legislators released a list of public safety legislation in November 2023 that they hope the governor will support this session.
Tashi McQueen is a Report For America corps member.