The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded the Maryland Attorney General’s Office $833,334 to address hate crimes.
In 2020, Maryland’s law enforcement reported 382 hate bias incidents. Race, Ethnicity, Ancestry (R/E/A) accounted for 73.3% of all incidents reported. In a press release, the Attorney General’s Office explained, “Maryland continues to face significant challenges in obtaining complete reporting, engaging law enforcement and community-based organizations in areas impacted by hate activity, and in securing justice for victims through prosecution.”
Attorney General Frosh added:
“All Maryland citizens and visitors have a right to live without fear that they will be attacked or targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender,” said Attorney General Frosh. “This grant will allow my office to lead a comprehensive effort to train law enforcement agencies and engage partners to identify and respond to hate crimes. We will not allow hate to spread unchecked within our communities.”
More specifically, the three-year DOJ grant will be used toward the following items:
- enhancing community-based partnership by creating a Hate Crimes Task Force comprised of law enforcement, civil rights agencies and community-based organizations
- developing a statewide hate crime web portal
- conducting regional hate crime summits
- training law enforcement and prosecutors
