State funding for grants to houses of worship and schools to fight hate and bias crimes and boost security is being increased in the governor’s proposed budget.
The governor, who was sworn in for a second term Wednesday, announced a plan to make $3 million available in competitive grants to religious groups and a doubling of state funding in a $1 million program to assist schools with security measures, training and technology.
“These investments will allow us to more effectively prevent and address instances of hate and violence across our state, and help ensure that Maryland remains a place where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can call home,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement.
Hogan’s budget is scheduled to be sent to the legislature on Friday.
Montgomery County was among 10 in the state with increases in reports of hate and bias crimes from 2016 to 2017 and accounted for a quarter of all the cases reported in Maryland in 2017, according to state police statistics.
County police recorded 123 reports of hate-bias crimes in 2017, the most recent year for which statistics are available, and 11 were later deemed unfounded after investigations. Through November 2018, 78 cases have been reported, according to a county government database.
Nearly half of the cases in Montgomery County were classified as anti-religious and another 50 percent targeted race, according to a county police report.
The cases include a bomb threat, homophobic slurs in public places, a student taunting another on social media using a racial epithet in several messages, a woman finding a burned African American doll at her job and a note containing anti-Islamic language taped to a door at a mosque.
In the latest county report, Police Chief Thomas Manger wrote the cases are “a walk up call” for better education and dialogue since nearly two-thirds of “the culprits” were minors.
“Young people need to understand the harm of targeting anyone for hate, threats, or ridicule based on one’s race, religion, ethnicity, appearance, manner of speech or any other class or condition protected by law,” the police chief wrote.
The governor’s Tuesday announcement of the funding increase said the state’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention would be in charge of reviewing grant applications for the church program.
The state also made $10 million in grants available following passage of a “Safe to Learn” act two years ago.
School systems across the state bolstered security and updated reviews of security protocols and training after deadly attacks last year at high schools in Parkland, Florida, and St. Mary’s County in Southern Maryland.
Montgomery County was second in the number of hate-bias crimes in 2017, behind Baltimore County, according to the state police report.
