ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Pre-existing grant or not, it seems like no federal money is guaranteed right now, but in light of the hate-based murders outside the DC Capital Jewish Center and the Boulder fire bombings, a hate crimes prevention program in Anne Arundel County is an obvious exception.
“It’s important work, and I think whatever party you’re part of, hate bias, hate crimes are bad,” said Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, “I mean, the DOJ has talked about some of these attacks recently as hate crimes.”
Watch as Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman explains the program
The county launched its program last fall, and the latest installment of a $1.2 million dollar grant will pay for an ‘Uncover Hate’ education campaign, along with some new infrared cameras for officers to use in tracking down suspects of hate crimes.
This after the county has seen the number of hate crimes climb from 10 last year to 13 in just the first four months of this year.
“Some are crimes against persons such as assault, harassment,” said Marc Limansky of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, “Others are property crimes where an individual will damage another person’s property, because of their race, religion, sexual orientation and so forth."
The program also will create an advisory team made up of 21 diverse organizations from throughout the county to share in the effort to stamp out hate.
“I think that any community striving for peace should be addressing the deep-seeded biases that many of us feel and by addressing those incidents and working to prevent them and bringing groups of people together to talk about it, it’s a positive thing,” said Pittman.
If you’ve been a victim or a witness to a hate crime or hate bias incident, the county encourages you to call local police immediately.
