Moore blames Hogan for ‘surge of violence,’ seeks new approach

Listen to this article

ANNAPOLIS — Without mentioning him by name, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday continued to blame former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan for crime levels in Maryland and sought to present a new, unified method for reducing violence in the state.

Moore said his administration inherited the current “surge of violence” from Hogan’s administration, saying that, over the last eight years, the number of non-fatal shootings in Maryland doubled and the number of homicides nearly doubled.

Hogan spokesman Mike Ricci said in a statement that the former governor “is not interested in playing the political blame game” and “is continuing to fight for real solutions to violent crime.”

Ricci claimed that the Hogan administration’s work to combat violent crime has been “often cited as a national model,” including the former governor’s “re-fund the police” initiative, an antithesis to national calls to defund the police, through which Hogan proposed large increases to law enforcement budgets across the state.

“As he did in his farewell address, he continues to urge Maryland’s leaders to finally pass legislation to get repeat violent criminals off our streets,” Ricci said.

RELATED: On TV or serving as Democratic surrogate, Wes Moore finds the national spotlight

Flanking Moore for his State House press conference on Thursday were about two dozen members of his administration, an attempt to portray a united front as they announced an “all-of-the above” approach to preventing crime and promoting public safety, which the governor said is his administration’s top priority.

Moore said that, under Hogan, the state government failed to assemble a plan to respond to crime and address its root causes.

He said the executive branch had frayed relationships with state legislators and elected officials in large jurisdictions — a nod to the strain between Hogan and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, who often pointed fingers at each other for crime levels in the city — that impeded progress.

“Gone are the days where the blame game thrives and people die,” Moore said.

Moore said the state plans to use $5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress passed to help state and local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, to bolster Department of Juvenile Services programs that help at-risk children.

RELATED: Moore announces revival of Red Line transit project

Maryland has been allocated a total of $12.8 billion in ARPA funding since 2021, including $9.5 billion for the state government and $3.2 billion for local governments, according to the Department of Budget and Management.

Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vinny Schiraldi said the funding will go to summer youth employment programs in Prince George’s, Montgomery, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, and Baltimore city — five jurisdictions that he said account for three-quarters of youth violence referrals in the state.

The department will also form a rapid service and intervention program, which includes daily life coaching, focusing on 25 children in Baltimore city and Baltimore County who are “at the highest risk of shooting someone or being shot,” he said. The program is also expected to expand to Prince George’s County.

Schiraldi said that a similar program in West Baltimore helped lower the number of homicides and non-fatal shootings by 33% in the last year and by 50% since 2017.