Keeping our Students Safe from Gangs

Keeping Our Students Safe from Gangs
Speaker Busch introduced legislation this year to improve communication between schools and law enforcement, in order to prevent gang recruitment and expansion in schools across the State. The Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center reports that there is gang activity in every county in the State of Maryland. The State Department of Juvenile Services reports that children as young as 10 years old are being recruited to participate in gangs in Maryland. The Safe Schools Act of 2010 expands the types of crimes that law enforcement must report to school personnel if a child is arrested; requires the creation of a statewide model gang policy for school systems; and requires the assessment of intervention and prevention programs that schools can access.

Cracking Down on Criminal Gangs
The legislature also passed legislation to tighten up the existing State Gang Statute, supported by the Attorney General and State's Attorney's Association. The General Assembly passed the first Gang Prosecution Act in 2007 to crack down on criminal gang activity, including stiff penalties for crimes committed in support of a criminal gang. A gang member convicted under this statute is subject to up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000. Maryland is one of 31 states that have enacted similar laws to combat the spread of gang violence.

This year's law takes a step further by specifically prohibiting someone from being a gang “kingpin”, makes a person eligible to receive an additional sentence if convicted of other underlying crimes, and creates stiffer penalties for gang members convicted of a second offense under this law or if death results in the commission of a gang crime.

Tightening Sex Offender Laws
Over the past four years, the legislature has provided several new tools to help law enforcement prosecute violent sex offenders. During the 2006 special session, the legislature passed Jessica's Law, which requires a 25 year mandatory minimum sentence for first degree rape and sex offenses. In 2007, the legislature eliminated the possibility of parole for Jessica's Law offenders. That same year, the legislature passed a law requiring court-ordered mental health assessments of sex offenders convicted of sexual abuse against a minor. In 2008, Governor Martin O'Malley and the legislature followed implementation of Jessica's Law with a bill requiring the collection of DNA on arrest for any crime of violence or felony burglary. Over 24,000 DNA samples have been eliminated from the State's backlog and, as a result, over 100 sex offenders have been arrested.

Hailed as one of the most comprehensive package of sexual predator legislation in Maryland, we passed bills to:

• Bring Maryland into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act. The bill was amended to require homeless sex offenders, sex offenders convicted of indecent exposure and possessors of child pornography and offenders who repeatedly abuse children under the age of 14 to register on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. The bill expands information posted on the Maryland Sex Offender registry to include places of employment, other residences and a plain language description of the crime.
  
• Require lifetime supervision of serious and repeat sex offenders including GPS monitoring.
  
• Require a judge, instead of a district court commissioner, to determine whether a registered sex offender arrested for any crime is entitled to pretrial release.
  
• Eliminate diminution credits for the most serious sex offenders and repeat third degree offenders.
  
• Further strengthen the State's prohibition against possessing or promoting child pornography.
  
• Increase mandatory minimum sentences for second degree sex offenders and rapists from 5 to 15 years.
  
• Reconstitute the Sex Offender Advisory Board to make policy recommendations to the executive and legislative branches.
  
  

Making Maryland Roads Safer
As more research comes to the forefront about the dangers of using a handheld cell phone while driving, the legislature this year passed a law that prohibits a driver from holding a cell phone while driving. SB321, which will take effect October 1st, makes driving while using a handheld cell phone a secondary offense (meaning the cell phone use cannot be the only reason a driver is pulled over) with a fine of $40 for the first time and $100 for any subsequent time. Six states and our neighbor, Washington D.C., prohibit cell phone use while driving.

Supporting the State's Trauma System
Continuing our focus on the State's renowned trauma system, the House of Delegates pushed for a $20M pre-authorization in funding to continue the purchase program for Medevac helicopters, to replace the State's aging fleet. Last year, the House increased funding to $52.5M in order to purchase the first three helicopters. This additional funding for FY12 will help keep the replacement program on track, to help volunteer firefighters and medical personnel save lives.

The House pushed to fully fund the Charles E. Reilly scholarship program, a scholarship program that provides funding for fire and EMS rescue personnel to attend any higher education institution in Maryland.

Passing a Correctional Officers Bill of Rights
Supported by Correctional Officers around the State, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation to provide Correctional Officers with more protections while they serve. It means they will be afforded the same rights as the prisoners they are guarding and be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The legislation allows an employee to remain in a paid leave status pending a final decision on their case. It formalizes procedures for the interrogation of Correctional Officers and provides the department with better tools and more time to clear officers who are wrongly accused. These changes should help protect and clear innocent officers quickly and allow investigations to focus on officers who have broken the law.