Issue Position: Public Safety

Issue Position

My prior service as Chairman of Montgomery County's Victim Services Advisory Board has given me a unique perspective on how our state and community deals with public safety matters. I understand that comprehensive public safety policy must focus on education and prevention, and must deal not only with the perpetrators of crime, but also the victims.

Supporting Comprehensive Gun Safety Legislation
I applaud the significant progress the State Legislature and Governor O'Malley made during the course of the 2013 legislative session with passage of meaningful gun safety legislation. The law bans the sale of assault-style rifles, including the type of AR-15s used in the Sandy Hook Elementary shorting; places restrictions on gun ownership for people with diagnosed mental illness; and bans the sale of high capacity magazines. I support measures to enforce this recently passed legislation, and will advocate for more stringent mandatory gun training and safety courses in order to purchase a gun in Maryland. I also support measures to register those weapons already in the stream of commerce in Maryland.

Advocating for Safe & Sick Leave
I believe that every employee in Maryland who has been the recent victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault must be given proper time to rest, recover, and respond to their situation. That's why I fully support and will fight for legislation to give those victims the right to take earned, paid time off in order to settle their affairs.

Expanding Access to Protective Orders in Cases of Dating Violence and Sexual Assault
Peace and Protective Orders are civil orders issued by a judge that order one person to refrain from committing certain acts against another. The relationship between perpetrator and victim determines the petition to be filed. Protective Orders generally apply to people in domestic relationships. Peace Orders apply to other persons. Protective Orders are taken more seriously by the court and can be ordered for a prolonged period of time as compared to Peace Orders. I fully support legislation that expands to scope of persons eligible for a Protective Order to include victims of dating violence and sexual assault.

Guaranteeing Full Funding for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) is designed to provide financial assistance to victims of crime in Maryland. Aid can range from assistance with medical bills to the payment of funeral expenses. Unfortunately, because the CICB is not adequately funded, there is a backlog of $2.5 million in unpaid crime victim claims. This backlog means that crime victims in our community may have to wait months to be reimbursed for medical expenses, disability assistance, psychological services, or funeral expenses.

To help fix this problem, I support measures to increase the fees that offenders are ordered to pay in order to increase the level of CICB funding, and I will work with the County Council to review the County's Crime Victims' Compensation Fund legislation for possible changes to assist local crime victims when they apply for the compensation fund.

Assisting with Effective Prisoner Reentry
According to the Maryland Taskforce on Prisoner Reentry, 40 years ago the incarceration rate in Maryland was 165 per 100,000, which resulted in a prison population of 5,117 individuals. In 2011, the incarceration rate was 412 per 100,000 with an average daily prison population of 22,500. While crime rates have decreased and are back to levels not seen since the 1960s, incarceration rates have greatly increased. The primary reason for these paradoxical numbers is that there has been a tremendous increase of incarcerated individuals with longer sentences, and higher rates of recidivism. The latest data tell us that 70% of the Maryland prison population serves sentences greater than 5 years, and that of the 13,900 offenders released from Maryland prisons between 2000 and 2010, 47.8% of them were back in prison within 3 years.
To combat this pervasive problem and to ensure the safe and responsible reintegration of our prison population, I support the full implementation of the recommendations from the Maryland Taskforce on Prisoner Reentry. I will work to ensure the development of the Taskforce's plan to close state prisons, and invest the savings in prisoner education, job skill training, and treatment programs. I also support and will work to implement the Taskforce's recommendations to develop new partnerships between the state's prison system, and the non-profit sector and faith-based communities.

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