An America United, a 501(c)4 organization aligned with Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, launched a new ad campaign Monday highlighting Hogan’s efforts to “refund police” in Maryland.
The new ad highlights America’s ongoing violent crime surge alongside Democratic calls to defund police. It features Hogan’s recent proposal to spend $150 million to bolster policing in Maryland.
“To reverse the tide of rising crime, we need to stop demonizing and sabotaging the dedicated men and women who risk their lives every single day to keep the rest of us safe,” Hogan says in the ad. “Instead, we’re going to refund the police.”
Maryland Democrats slammed Hogan’s policing agenda, which includes funding to local police aid, neighborhood safety grants and body camera and accountability programs, as “divisive rhetoric.” Democratic Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called Hogan’s announcement “uninformed.” (RELATED: Maryland Becomes First State To Repeal ‘Police Bill Of Rights’ After Overriding GOP Governor’s Veto)
Baltimore City has averaged about one homicide per day in 2021, and has consistently had one of the highest murder rates in the developed world. Murder spiked statewide in Maryland in 2020, and is on track to increase again in 2021 by a smaller amount. Nationwide, murder jumped by the highest rate on record in 2020, amid calls from some Democrats to defund police and shift more resources away from law enforcement.
The Baltimore City Council voted to cut $22 million from its police budget last summer.