Politics

A day after a list of 305 Baltimore police officers with credibility and integrity issues became public, Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said he’s concerned the information will further erode the department’s relationship with the community and hurt officer morale. Harrison said he had never seen the list before and was surprised to see some of the names, claiming the majority of the 177 officers listed who still work in the department did not have sustained complaints against them. The list includes several high-ranking officers within the department, including a former head of internal affairs and a former deputy chief of patrol.

Maria Vicente has no health insurance. During five pregnancies the only time she saw a doctor was in the delivery room. She lost two children from lack of prenatal care and complications giving birth. The 37-year-old fled poverty in Guatemala for a better life in the United States. Since immigrating in 2006, she has worked as a housekeeper or in construction, as does her husband, when jobs are available and they are healthy. Vicente volunteers to distribute food to people in need like herself, whose lives have been upended by pandemic-related social, economic and health issues, which hit her majority Latino community in Prince George’s County particularly hard. According to the Maryland Department of Health, Langley Park has consistently had the highest COVID incidence rates in the state.

The Baltimore County Council unanimously approved a bill Thursday creating a police accountability board — but without several changes that advocates for reform said would strengthen the new panel. By a 4-3 vote, the council also passed an amendment prohibiting people convicted of felonies and certain misdemeanors from serving on the board for 10 years.

Harford County Executive Barry Glassman signed his final county budget for the 2023 fiscal year Wednesday. ”We fully funded education, we fully funded public safety, and we cut taxes,” Glassman said. The Harford County Council finalized the fiscal 2023 budget Tuesday night.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan called for a “comprehensive update” Thursday from Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on his violent crime plan as deadly shootings continue to outpace previous years’ numbers. Baltimore is on pace for more than 350 homicides in 2022, and for the first time, more than 100 people were killed by the start of May, according to Baltimore City Councilman Eric Costello. In a letter addressed to Scott, the governor referenced a February meeting with the mayor in which Scott laid out his plan to battle Baltimore’s sustained violent crime problem. Hogan said he received assurances that the mayor’s approach would  lead to a “meaningful reduction in violence.”

Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore called on Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to target state resources toward preventing gun violence in Baltimore on Wednesday. “The number one responsibility of the chief executive is to keep people safe, so today, I’m calling on Governor Hogan to take immediate action,” Moore said at a news conference in East Baltimore. Moore, a frontrunner in the 2022 race for governor, called on Hogan to take a series of immediate actions to quell violence in the city.