City Leaders, Hogan To Meet To Set Violent Crime Reduction Goals After Governor Pledges $21M In Support
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A day after Gov. Larry Hogan pledged an additional $21 million in funding to help Baltimore address violent crime if the city met certain benchmarks, Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young said he and the governor will meet to go over specifics in the coming weeks.
While no firm date or dates have been set, Young said numerous times at a press conference Wednesday his office and the governor's were "actively engaged" in conversation about specific points in a letter Hogan sent Tuesday outlining what he wants to see happen in exchange for the money.
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"I appreciate the governor's continued engagement with our efforts to drive down violent crime," Young said.
In the four-page letter, Hogan said he was prepared to give the city $21 million more for violent crime reduction provided the city submits quarterly performance updates outlining their progress.
Areas Of Agreement, Contention
While local and state leaders have committed to making reducing crime a top priority, Young and Harrison took issue with Hogan calling the recently-announced crime plan the "status quo."
"It is absolutely not a status quo crime plan," Harrison said Wednesday. "It outlines many things we do not have and have not had, and it talks about comprehensive strategies to reduce crime, but it's also a five-year transformational plan."
The governor also called on the city to reinstate a controversial "eye in the sky" plane program that would provide aerial surveillance of the city and also said repeat violent offenders need tougher sentences.
Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison has previously said he has no plans to bring back the program despite its costs being covered by donors.
When asked Wednesday whether he would support bringing back the program, Young said he would talk to state officials about what was outlined in the letter and crime reduction benchmarks.
