City Receives 5th Safe Streets Grant

Mayor James Ireton, Jr. and Chief Barbara Duncan proudly announce that effective July 1, 2014, the Salisbury Safe Streets coalition will receive $260,000 from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention for the period July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. The O'Malley/Brown administrations total commitment to the Salisbury Safe Streets program has been $1,554,636 over the past 4 ½ years.

“We are very pleased to receive another year of Safe Streets funding from Governor O’Malley’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention. Through the Safe Streets violent crime reduction model we have created working partnerships through all levels of government, with the private sector, faith based communities and neighborhood associations. These partnerships provide law enforcement with a broad spectrum of resources to fight crime more efficiently while reducing the fear of crime in our neighborhoods. Our economic prosperity here in Salisbury and Wicomico County is inextricably linked to our crime rate. With this round of grant funding from the Governor’s Office, law enforcement remains focused on continued efforts to reduce violent crime while improving the quality of life for the entire Salisbury community”, said Chief Barbara Duncan.

Per GOCCP and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the following is a breakdown of crime statistics for the city since 2009:
Since 2009, a year before Safe Streets was initiated;
Salisbury has seen a significant 52.3% reduction in violent crime. The city also had significant reductions in robberies (-49.0%), aggravated assaults (55.4%), burglaries (-62.3%), larceny/theft (-31.4%), and motor vehicle thefts (-56.2%) over the same period.
*these statistics are for inside city limits, not the Safe Streets designated area
https://www.goccp.maryland.gov/msac/documents/FactSheets/SafeStreets.pdf

“Salisbury’s Safe Streets program has achieved remarkable success by putting innovative policies into action,” said Tammy Brown, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention. “Outstanding cooperation between agencies and expanded community partnerships has resulted in the success we have enjoyed this year. We look forward to another successful year in Salisbury.”

“It is impossible to express the thanks to our officers and our Safe Streets partners for this progress. That GOCCP chose to fund our coalition again is testament to the work of Chief Duncan, Sheriff Lewis, States Attorney Maciarello and all our partners. We continue to work to reduce our Part 1 numbers with a goal of fewer than 2000 for 2014. We celebrate this work, and the huge impact they have on the perception of our city,” said Mayor James Ireton, Jr.

The Mayor and Chief Duncan will hold a press availability and make the announcement on Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 2:15pm at the Salisbury Police Department.