County accepts grant to support alternative to incarceration

Sep. 20—CUMBERLAND — Allegany County commissioners on Thursday accepted a $155,520 grant from the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy for salaries, overtime, contractual services and supplies that support an alternative to incarceration for some offenders.

According to a report from Tanya Gomer — grants writer at the Allegany County Sheriff's Office — to the county administrator, "violence is increasing and the devastating residual effects of substance use disorder are contributing to homelessness, criminality and unemployment."

Allegany County has experienced more murders in the past two years "than in the previous 10 years," it stated.

"People are afraid and to save lives, protect and serve, and preserve our community, we must not focus our efforts on the drug user, but more so have targeted interdiction and investigation efforts that must focus on the dealers, manufacturers and drug trafficking organizations that are infiltrating our region," the report stated.

Through crime reduction efforts that include reentry services, pretrial supervision, access to treatment and rehabilitation, "we assess defendants, present recommendations to the courts ... and ensure that individuals are met where they are in life and given access to tools and resources to help them mitigate the barriers they encounter in life and build on what they can achieve to improve their disposition," it stated.

The average daily rate for a person housed at the county detention center for 2023 was $204.34, the report stated.

Using an average two-month stay, if those individuals had been diverted from the facility, the county could have saved roughly $3.6 million that year, it stated.

The GOCPP grant will "prevent the additional financial burden being cast on the county," the report stated.

The commissioners also accepted roughly $579,000 of Maryland 9-1-1 Board funding for various items and services including GIS support, and battery testing.