The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced awards of more than $1.5 million to local jurisdictions and organizations in Maryland to combat gangs and gang violence in local neighborhoods, communities and schools, announced U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. Programs throughout the state will receive funding for prevention, intervention and suppression strategies. This federal funding program for gang prevention strategies was announced earlier this year at a press conference held at the U.S. Attorney’s Office with Senator Barbara A. Mikulski and Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Authorities also announced today that a new state-wide law enforcement database, known as Gang-Net, will be implemented in Maryland. The Gang-Net database, overseen by the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, www.hidta.org, will allow local, state and federal law enforcement officials to share data on gang activities.
After consulting with state and local partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office held a statewide Gang Summit on June 1, 2006, which helped identify the gang problem in Maryland, and focused on prevention, intervention and suppression strategies. At the conference, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced its intention to use the funding to make grants to government entities and non-profit organizations across the state that are actively involved in combating and preventing gangs.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office developed a three-part plan to distribute the anti-gang money: one half would be distributed through a competitive process based on a collaborative strategy developed by each jurisdiction; one quarter would be awarded on a discretionary and non-competitive basis to support existing prevention and intervention programs or statewide efforts; and one quarter would be used for witness protection, translation services, training and other law enforcement functions.
The Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) provided planning grants to each jurisdiction in Maryland to assess the local gang problem and develop a strategy to deal with it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office then held regional informational sessions around the state to provide guidance about how best to put together an effective proposal.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said, “Coordinated and comprehensive strategies are essential to deter gang violence, but law enforcement alone cannot prevent gang violence. We also need statewide intervention and prevention programs to rescue kids who have joined gangs and to prevent others from joining in the first place.”
Rosenstein added, “Gang-Net, a planned state-wide database to centralize intelligence about gangs, will be a valuable tool. It will allow law enforcement officers to identify gang members and enable us to better understand and respond to gang problems.”
Fourteen Maryland jurisdictions submitted applications detailing their collaborative strategies to deal with local gang problems. A panel of subject matter experts from the Police Foundation, GOCCP, Hawkins Funding Development Group; Maryland Community Crime Prevention Institute; Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA); and the U.S. Attorney’s Office evaluated and rated each proposal. At a meeting held on November 28, 2006, all members discussed the strategy, budget and objectives of each proposal, and rated the proposals.
In addition, discretionary grants were made to support existing prevention and intervention programs or statewide efforts addressing areas facing significant gang challenges.
The awards announced today are only one source of funding for anti-gang strategies. Other federal and state source