An America United released a video today highlighting Governor Hogan’s new proposed $150 million initiative to “Re-fund the Police” with a 50% increase in state police aid to local jurisdictions, $50 million to fund salary increases and hiring bonuses for state police agencies, and $24 million for body cams and de-escalation training.
As calls to defund the police have become common in Maryland and across the country, police recruiting and morale have hit new lows nationally. A Baltimore city Councilman even called for abolishing the police, helping to create a “chilling effect on effective policing.”
According to recently released FBI data, murders in the United States spiked 30% last year, the largest rise in murder “since the start of national record-keeping in 1960.”