Governor O'Malley Signs Legislation to Improve Public Safety for State
O’Malley Signs DNA Bill, Iran Divestment, BRAC Community Enhancement Act into Law
ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 13, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley today joined Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., House Speaker Michael E. Busch, and Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, to sign legislation to improve public safety in every region of our State.
“We must do all that we can to protect the citizens in every region of our State,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “I want to thank the General Assembly in working together this session to pass legislation that continues to make Maryland a safer place to live. With today’s bills, we are expanding our DNA law to provide law enforcement the tools to more efficiently resolve open criminal investigations, improving our homeland security by divesting from foreign companies with investments in Iran’s petroleum-energy sector, supporting our Nation’s defense and security efforts through BRAC by providing local jurisdictions with incentives to enhance public infrastructure, and we are partnering with another local jurisdiction (City of Annapolis) to reduce violent crime.”
“Public safety is the cornerstone of a civil society and we made great strides this session to make Maryland safer,” said Speaker Michael E. Busch. “Today, we add several tools to the public safety arsenal: the DNA bill and expanding the jurisdiction of General Service police, as a part of an unprecedented crime strategy to help communities statewide. I congratulate Governor O’Malley, President Miller and the entire General Assembly for fighting to keep our citizens safe.”
“This bill signing is another example of how the Governor’s aggressive agenda paid off with important progress in many areas. I believe the DNA bill appropriately balances the need for cutting edge technology in law enforcement while fairly addressing civil liberty concerns,” said Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller. “With respect to the divestment bill, I join many patriotic Marylanders who believe that no State monies should benefit companies doing business in countries that pose a direct and hostile threat to the well being of the United States.”
Governor O’Malley today signed into law legislation that expands Maryland’s DNA law allowing law enforcement to more efficiently resolve open criminal investigations, pursue repeat offenders and save valuable time pursuing false leads by effectively eliminating suspects from ongoing investigations. The legislation requires a DNA sample to be taken from any individual charged for specified crimes of violence or felony burglary and requires the sample to be taken at the time the individual is charged at a facility specified by the Secretary of State Police.
Last year, the Maryland State Police under the O’Malley-Brown Administration, was successful in closing a backlog of more than 24,000 DNA samples. Through the creation of DNA Stat, the O’Malley-Brown Administration eliminated this backlog, and our DNA-database is now fully functioning as an effective crime prevention tool. Crucial positions in the crime lab that had been vacant and unfunded for years have been filled, and $800,000 has been spent to fund long-term equipment needs. Since we began DNA Stat in March 2007, we’ve made 330 DNA matches, or hits-- a 46% increase in the total hits ever made with CODIS in Maryland. Over 32,000 samples have been uploaded, doubling the size of Maryland’s CODIS database and eliminating the convicted offender database. We broke down information barriers to identify convicted offenders on parole and probation who owed DNA samples, and trained over 600 parole and probation employees to collect over 14,000 parolee and probationer samples.
In addition, Governor O’Malley signed a bill that authorizes a law enforcement agency to release a photograph and information identifying juvenile offenders that have escaped from a juvenile detention center or residential facility to aid in the child’s apprehension. He also signed an emergency bill that expands the authority of the Department of General Services police by allowing DGS officers to make arrests and enforce laws in any area within 1,000 feet of State buildings and grounds in Annapolis. Previously, DGS officers were limited to making arrests only on State property.
“Public safety is the foundation for all that we do in local government,” said Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith. “I applaud Governor O’Malley for the passage of this important legislation that will make Baltimore County safer. The Governor continues to focus on quality of life issues that families care about all across the State.”
Governor O’Malley also signed into law today a bill that improves homeland security and protects Marylanders against terrorism threats, and specifically, directs the Board of Trustees to begin divesting from foreign companies with substantial investments in Iran’s petroleum-energy sector. Investing in these publicly traded companies doing business in Iran puts the national security of the country, and the retirement and pensions of State employees, at substantial financial risk. This bill, therefore, directs the Board of Trustees, pursuant to its fiduciary responsibilities, to divest those accounts over which it exercises full control from companies with over $20 million invested in Iran’s petroleum-energy sector. Before divesting, the Board of Trustees may offer companies the opportunity to stop doing business in Iran, and the total divestment cannot affect more than ½ of 1% of the system’s assets. In enacting this bill, Maryland joins California, Florida, Michigan and a growing number of other states across the country taking similar action, both to protect their retirement systems from financial risk and to ensure that American dollars are not used to support State-sponsored terrorism.
Between now and 2011, Maryland anticipates the arrival of as many as 60,000 new jobs and 28,000 new households as a result of the BRAC Commission recommendations. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Brown, the BRAC Subcabinet has worked throughout the past year to prepare Maryland’s action plan to support of our Nation’s defense and security efforts. The BRAC Subcabinet worked extensively with local, State and federal agencies, the private sector and the public to develop strategies to accommodate the new employers, workers and families that will relocate to Maryland in the coming years. Governor O’Malley signed into law today the BRAC Community Enhancement Act, which, based on recommendations by the BRAC Subcabinet, establishes BRAC Revitalization and Incentive Zones to provide local jurisdictions with incentives to enhance public infrastructure such as streets, utilities and recreation venues in designated revitalization and redevelopment areas. The BRAC Community Enhancement Act also expands the use of the new Higher Education Investment Fund to allow for BRAC-related higher education initiatives administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Governor O’Malley has included $3 million in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget for workforce training initiatives related to BRAC.
“BRAC represents an incredible opportunity for our state. But, to fully realize any opportunity, it is incumbent each of us to recognize the challenges that we must come together to move beyond,” Lt. Governor Brown said. “With BRAC, our greatest challenges lie in our ability to develop the workforce and prepare the infrastructure to serve the installations’ missions. The BRAC Higher Education Fund and the BRAC Community Enhancement Act tackle both those challenges head on and keep Maryland’s progress toward complete BRAC readiness on the fast track.”
In his first 15 months in office, Governor O’Malley has made great strides in improving public safety across the State, the number one responsibility of government, including:
- Expanded DNA fingerprinting to include violent offenders and eliminated DNA backlog left by previous administration;
- Enhanced supervision of violent offenders by reforming Parole and Probation;
- Provided funding for stab-proof vests for Correctional Officers;
- Ended parole for child sex offenders with Jessica’s Law, and invested $2 million in monitoring child sex predators;
- Established Regional partnership with Baltimore City and Prince George’s County to reduce gun violence, crime and gang-related activity;
- Introduced legislation to allow critical information-sharing between the Department of Juvenile Services and the Office of Parole and Probation to continue the much needed reform of our juvenile justice system;
- Boosted drug treatment by $10 million over 2 years; and
- Closed Maryland’s most violent prison – Maryland House of Corrections.
[ View full list of bills signed this day ]
