BOB EHRLICH: Lying Because He's Losing
Down Consistently in the Polls, Ehrlich Resorts to False Attacks on the Police Officers and People of Baltimore
BALTIMORE, MD (September 27, 2006) – Today, after millions wasted on false attacks on Baltimore’s schools that failed to improve his standing in the polls, Bob Ehrlich began another round of misleading attacks on the people of Baltimore and the police officers sworn to protect them. Proving yet again that his campaign has no vision for Maryland’s future or a positive record on which to run, Bob Ehrlich launched a radio ad today attacking the people of Baltimore’s efforts to reduce violent crime.
The truth is Bob Ehrlich is lying – and he is lying because he is losing.
- For months, virtually every poll has shown that Bob Ehrlich is 6% to 9% behind Martin O’Malley – including this week’s Baltimore Sun poll, with only 40 days left in the campaign. Every statewide Democratic candidate is over 50% – in a strong Democratic state and in a strong Democratic year.
- His false attacks on Baltimore’s schools failed – the race didn’t move. Now, he’s trying to mislead voters about Baltimore’s progress in reducing crime – which will fail, because people have heard it all before. They’re sick of his monotonous attacks on the people of Baltimore.
The Truth is that despite Bob Ehrlich’s cuts in funding to the Baltimore City Police Department by 42% from $11.3 million in FY 2002 to $6.6 million in FY 2006 and his malicious cuts in drug treatment funding to Baltimore by $3 million – from $52.2 million in FY 2003 to $49.2 million in FY 2005, crime in Baltimore City has decreased under Martin O’Malley.
Under Bob Ehrlich in the State of Maryland tuition is up 40%, taxes and fees are up by $3 billion, utility rates are up, and the number of people without health insurance is up, but
The Truth is Crime is Down in Baltimore:
- For 44 consecutive months, Bob Ehrlich’s Maryland State Police – which is required by law to collect crime data and has the power to audit crime statistics at any time – has reviewed and accepted Baltimore’s crime statistics without raising any concerns.
- Just three months ago in June, in submitting the 2005 crime data to Governor Ehrlich, Maryland State Police Superintendent Thomas Hutchins wrote: “The crime data, submitted monthly to the Central Records Division, is carefully validated, and every effort is made to authenticate the accuracy and completeness of the reported data.�
- In 2003, former Superintendent Edward Norris wrote: “The crime data is submitted monthly to the Maryland State Police, Central Records Division, and goes through a strict verification process where every effort is made to authenticate the accuracy and completeness of the reported data.�
- Bob Ehrlich didn’t raise his baseless attacks until an election year. The State Police still never has questioned the Baltimore Police Department’s crime data. After 9 months of political attacks, as the Washington Post has reported: “no evidence has surfaced of a systemic manipulation of crime statistics.�
- Independent data proves that the Baltimore Police Department’s crime data is accurate. Not only have the Maryland Police “validated� it, but Police data tracks with Emergency Medical Service transports to hospitals and gun shot wounds treated at Baltimore’s four trauma centers.
- Dr. J. Glenn Morris, Jr., Chairman of the University of Maryland Medical School’s Department of Epidemiology – perhaps our state’s leading expert – reviewed the data and wrote:
“In assessing the data, the Police Department numbers show a striking drop from 1999 to 2000, with some further decreases, but a general leveling off in subsequent years. A similar pattern is seen in the EMS and Trauma Registry data. Overall, the presence of this same trend in all three data sets supports the idea that it is ‘real’ – that there were actual decreases and that we are not simply dealing with reporting artifact.�
And the Truth is Bob Ehrlich has done nothing to improve public safety in State of Maryland:
- He cut State funding to the Baltimore Police Department by 42% from $11.3 million in FY 2002 to $6.6 million in FY 2006.
- He cut State drug treatment funding in Baltimore by $3 million – from $52.2 million in FY 2003 to $49.2 million in FY 2005.
- He broke his promise to reform Juvenile Services – and instead, it has gotten worse, with children sleeping in bathrooms near toilets and riots caused by understaffing, according to Maryland’s Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor.
- He broke his promise to implement Project Exile – which calls for all eligible gun crimes to be prosecuted in federal court. Federal gun prosecutions went down sharply under his handpicked U.S. Attorney, and he never delivered on his promised public/private advertising and outreach campaign.
- He broke his promise to end parole for violent criminals – and in fact, parole of criminals has increased on his watch.
- He has flat funded the State gun prosecutors grant to the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office at the same $1.7 million that his predecessor began in 2001 – failing to account for inflation – as the city has increased it’s funding for the SAO by 50% since Mayor O’Malley took office (from $16.6 million in FY 2000 to $24.9 million in FY 2007).
- His much hyped “Hype vs. Reality� campaign, launched at a press conference with Carmelo Anthony in May 2005 produced, literally, nothing.
- And under his watch, prisons are out of control, with corrections officers being murdered and nearly 20 times more violent incidents involving weapons than the larger Pennsylvania prison system – 257 compared to 15 for the first six months of 2006.
BOB EHRLICH: CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO FIGHT CRIME;
CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO FIGHT FOR MARYLAND FAMILIES
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Friends of Martin O’Malley – 2400 Boston St., Suite 203 – Baltimore, MD 21202 – 410-814-4206 – fax: 410-814-4218
Authority: Friends of Martin O’Malley, Martin F. Cadogan, Treasurer
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