BALTIMORE — The Maryland State Police will receive roughly $2.7 million in federal funding to fight against the use of illegal and dangerous drugs across the state.
Maryland’s Democrats U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen along with Reps. Stenny Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, and Anthony Brown announced the new funding on Monday.
The money comes from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Methamphetamine Program and Anti-Heroin Task Force, according to congressional staff.
These programs help state law enforcement agencies investigate and shut down laboratories and drug distribution networks that facilitate the sale of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil, congressional staff said.
The COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion in the advancement of community policing, according to congressional staff.
Some of that money has been shared through grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 136,000 officers, congressional staff said.