Over the last three years, juvenile homicides have gone down 46 percent. Maryland had the fewest homicides statewide since 1986 last year. And Baltimore is home to the largest reduction in total crime among all American big cities. There is a lot we do better than we used to as a state with regard to public safety, and there is still a lot of work to be done.
The O'Malley administration has championed a number of public safety bills, but we have also made equally important changes administratively. The Division of Parole and Probation has focused its attention on known violent and sexual offenders. All sex offenders are assigned to specially trained agents, required to be under the strictest probationary terms and placed on GPS monitoring at intake. Violent offenders are placed in the Violence Prevention Initiative and, along with sex offenders, are strictly monitored for violations. Every sex offender is placed on GPS monitoring for 90 days and is subject to strict curfews or restricted movements
Parole and Probation has been using GPS to monitor sex offenders under supervision since February of last year, and as of this month, 231 sex offenders and 1,300 total offenders have been placed on GPS monitoring.
For the past several years, we have also pursued legislation to strengthen our sex offender laws, including bills to close loopholes in current law governing sex offenders, and to fix a badly broken 2006 law to establish a Sexual Offender Advisory Board. This year, on the very first day of session, Gov. Martin O'Malley introduced legislation to conform to the federal Adam Walsh Act. In addition, the administration is sponsoring the a bill that would require courts to impose lifetime supervision on certain sexual offenders to ensure that offenders released into the community are adequately monitored and subject to incarceration for violations of these strict conditions.
As mayor of Baltimore, Governor O'Malley took public safety very seriously. And his commitment to saving lives continues as governor. While there is still work to do, Marylanders should be proud of the real progress made, even in this difficult economy.
Gary Maynard and Kristen Mahoney, Annapolis
The writers are secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and director of the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
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