Victim compensation, gun violence reduction, police recruitment among Gov. Wes Moore’s 2024 criminal justice priorities

Gov. Wes Moore announced his plan Tuesday to sponsor three criminal justice-focused bills that intend to aid crime victims, recruit more law enforcement and quell gun violence.

“When it comes to public safety, we aren’t going to point fingers — we aren’t going to just simply place blame — we’re going to lead and lead together,” the governor, a Democrat, said at an Annapolis news conference Tuesday morning.

The first bill, the Victims Compensation Reform Act, seeks to restructure Maryland’s current victims compensation policy in an effort to get funding into the hands of those who need it faster.

Under the bill, crime victims would be eligible to receive emergency rewards to cover necessities like relocation costs, funeral expenses and crime scene cleanup more quickly. It would also allow sexual assault victims to receive compensation from the state.

“When people feel safe and feel like justice will be served, then we have a better chance of getting convictions and actually closing cases,” Moore said of the legislation.

The second bill, the Growing Apprenticeships in Public Safety, or GAPS, Act, would create an easier route for people to enter law enforcement jobs, even without four-year degrees.

Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu said that the “GAPS Act” is an appropriate name “because we are seeing a potential gap.”

“If we don’t act now, there will be thousands of vacancies in law enforcement and public safety roles in the next couple of years,” said Wu. “We need officers who reflect the diversity of our great state and the neighborhoods they serve.”

The third criminal justice bill Moore announced would create a Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention. Based on the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention created last year under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, the state-run center would implement gun violence prevention, intervention and responses across Maryland.

The governor called gun violence in Maryland both a “public safety” and “public health” crisis.

According to Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott, more than 2,200 Marylanders are injured or killed annually with firearms.

Though none of his proposed bills specifically targeted juvenile justice, the governor acknowledged that there are likely to be “robust debates” on the policy area during the 2024 legislative session that begins Wednesday.

Lawmakers have been meeting with state and local officials and community stakeholders over the past several months to discuss how to legislatively approach juvenile crime — particularly the rise in car thefts and firearms offenses among kids.

Moore said that he expects his office will actively participate in those forthcoming debates, proposing that legislators and policymakers “think seriously about” lengthening probation for children convicted for gun violence offenses and changing the status of certain crimes involving illegal guns from misdemeanors to felonies.

The latter policy proposal tracks with the legislative priorities of Maryland’s minority party. Late last year, Senate and House Republican lawmakers announced their legislative agenda, which includes policies that aim to increase penalties for firearms offenses.

“The hallmark of what I hope to see in any juvenile justice legislation that’s going to make it to my desk can be summarized by one word: accountability,” the governor said. “I believe in rehabilitation, but I will not tolerate lawlessness.”

While Moore expressed that children should be held responsible when they commit violent crime, he also said that state leadership and the Department of Juvenile Services should be held to account, as well.

Moore described the Department of Juvenile Services as having “a measure of brokenness” when he entered office last year.

“Morale was low. Vacancies were high. Leaders from both sides of the aisle … were frustrated with a department that was not leading its mission,” the governor explained.

The frustration that Moore described reached a fever pitch during the 2023 legislative session as the state Senate weighed the governor’s appointment of Vincent Schiraldi to head the Department of Juvenile Services.

Senate Republicans worried the policies Schiraldi planned to employ to quash juvenile crime didn’t focus enough on accountability and punishment.

Their concerns lingered after Moore announced his legislation at Tuesday’s news conference.

“What I would have liked to hear a little bit more is consequences,” Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a Republican representing the upper Eastern Shore, said. “We want to hear what’s going to be done to immediately make streets safer.”

Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready of Carroll County said “it’s great to hear the word ‘accountability’ from a Democrat.”

“But there’s still a lot of fluff and not a lot of real, concrete commitments to really embrace legislation that will actually put more criminals behind bars and ensure accountability,” said Ready.

Schiraldi said at Tuesday’s news conference that Maryland incarcerates more youth in adult prisons “than all but three states.” Most of them, he continued, are children of color.

“If simply locking kids up with adults was the solution, we’d all be feeling much safer than we are,” Schiraldi said. “Instead, we need to better engage young people while holding them accountable … both to stop them from committing crimes and to protect them from the crimes of others.”