The Harford County Council will have the opportunity to introduce amendments to the County Executive’s Proposed Budget on Tuesday, May 21st and Sheriff Gahler has urged members of the Council to “Refund the Police” by restoring the $21.7 million cut to law enforcement proposed by County Executive Bob Cassilly in this year’s budget.

In October 2021, former Harford County Executive Barry Glassman and County Council leaders announced plans to renovate and repurpose an unoccupied county-owned building known as the HEAT Center. The building was slated to be transformed into the Central Precinct and Training Academy for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and would have improved operational efficiencies and addressed needs and demands of the communities we serve.

Reaffirming their support for this vital public safety project, the County approved $21 million in the FY2023 budget to begin construction and redevelopment of the Sheriff’s Office Central Precinct and Training Academy.

In December 2022, County Executive Bob Cassilly took office, and five months later, he presented his budget. It became clear that he had no intention of moving forward with the previously approved and funded project planned for the HEAT Center. Despite making various, sometimes contradictory, public statements about his motives, he challenged the County Council to “weigh in and have discussions on what they wanted to see when it came to this project.” The current members of the Harford County Council unanimously passed a resolution urging the County Executive to proceed with the Central Precinct and Training Academy Project at the HEAT Center. (see graphic)

With the introduction of his FY2025 Proposed Budget on April 15th, County Executive Cassilly has now officially acted to “Defund the Police,” by completely eliminating committed funds for the law enforcement project and moving a portion of this funding to build a $10.5 million community center. He has now officially joined the ranks of progressive politicians and anti-police groups across the Country who support “Defunding the Police” efforts. (see graphic)

– In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defunded a Precinct in Queens, NY and re-directed a portion of the funds to renovate a community center. Four years later, the funding was reinstated to build the precinct.

– In 2020, Austin, TX cut $20 million for the police budget and “reallocated the funds to help purchase two hotels to provide supportive housing for the homeless” and funding to abortion access programs.

– In 2023, anti-police groups rallied to shut down and defund a $90 million police training center in Atlanta, GA. The mayor of Atlanta, a Democrat, and the majority of the council have voted to support the project and moved it forward, anti- police groups are still pushing to bring the issue to referendum.

And in 2024,

– Harford County Republican Executive Bob Cassilly proposed defunding $21.7 million for a new Sheriff’s Office Precinct and Training Center and diverting $1 million of the funding to go towards a new community center.

“It sounds like the County Executive is subscribing to the Ben and Jerry’s Philosophy of Public Safety,” said Gahler. The ice cream giant issued a statement on June 19, 2020, titled “Defund the Police and invest in our communities.” They defined Defunding the Police as stopping the government from spending tax dollars on police and instead investing in job training, substance abuse counseling, childcare and community centers.