Community Project Funding: FY 2027

Innovation Hub in GeoAI for Violence Reduction

Amount Requested: $1,176,255
Funding for this project will be used for an Innovation Hub to support public safety and violence reduction in the state of Maryland, especially in rural counties, by building on and accelerating efforts underway to reduce firearm-related suicides, unintentional injuries, and community violence. This initiative builds on the University of Maryland’s expertise in GeoAI, remote sensing (using satellites and other collection platforms), and community-centered analytics, leveraging these assets to meet urgent public health challenges. The Hub will serve as a bridge between data science and prevention practice, connecting academic researchers, policymakers, health departments, and community organizations in a shared mission to make Maryland safer. The goal of this project is to save lives by deploying data-driven, public health-centered solutions for community violence and suicide prevention in both urban and rural communities in Maryland.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

Quantum Device Innovation Center

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Funding for this project will be used to develop a unique state-of-the-art facility for synthesis and interrogation of atomically clean quantum interfaces between air-sensitive, van der Waals (vdW) materials at the University of Maryland’s Quantum Device Innovation Center. This multi-use facility is urgently needed by a wide local community to enable continued two-dimensional materials research, as well as opportunities for new discoveries of quantum materials and device phenomena. The future of highly scalable quantum hardware platforms depends heavily on developing materials systems specifically tailored for quantum technology applications. This project will enable discovering and fabricating materials systems with specific quantum properties, while ensuring their wafer-scale integrability requires dedicated state-of-the-art research facilities capable of the growth and characterization of materials but also enable quantum device fabrication and evaluation.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

Equipment for Chips Design at the UMD Nanocenter

Amount Requested: $1,650,000

Funding for this project will modernize the core lithography systems of the University of Maryland’s Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) and make state-of-the-art semiconductor equipment accessible for public use and lower barriers to advanced research, prototyping, and small-batch manufacturing. This equipment will enhance capabilities at the FabLab facility, which provides affordable access to advanced equipment for students, small businesses, and researchers in Maryland and across the region, ensuring broad access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology. Funding for this new equipment will unlock multiple new opportunities for research, innovation, and workforce development, and support federal goals to bring semiconductor technology and manufacturing back to the United States.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

Project INSIGHT: Intelligence-led Safety & Geographic Hotspot Targeting

Amount Requested: $2,655,000

Funding for this project will help the state of Maryland more effectively prevent, detect, and respond to crime and violence through innovative data analytics. Project INSIGHT will help drive cross-agency collaboration across the state of Maryland, targeting jurisdictional borders where crime is often more prevalent. Through statewide workshops, technical training, and stakeholder convenings, the project builds capacity for data-driven crime prevention and cross-jurisdictional collaboration. Embedded analysts and faculty from several disciplines will support the integration of data-driven insights into actionable strategies, fostering long-lasting improvements in public safety across Maryland.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

City of Mount Rainier Police Vehicles

Amount: $1,335,941.91
Funding for this project will help the City of Mount Rainier replace its current police vehicles with hybrid-electric patrol vehicles. These new patrol vehicles will give officers tactical advantages such as reduced noise and quicker acceleration times and residents of Mount Rainier and neighboring communities will enjoy reduced crime and more effective law enforcement. The funding request will cover replacement costs for the full fleet of 19 patrol cars customized with lightbars, sirens, and other equipment and one parking enforcement vehicle.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

Essential Training Curriculum for Law Enforcement Officers

Amount: $ 1,478,900

Funding for this project will enable University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) to work with the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission (MPCTC) to develop an educational curriculum incorporating new training objectives through standard blocks of instruction that police academies can access from the MPCTC. To be certified as a police officer in Maryland, an individual must demonstrate mastery of 217 training objectives. Those objectives are distributed across sixteen broad categories, including organizational principles and law, traffic, criminal investigations, and firearms. Developing a quality curriculum for Maryland police academies to address these important and often complex topics is imperative to ensure the effective and efficient training necessary to produce enough competent and responsible police officers to keep our communities safe. This curriculum will strengthen our local law enforcement workforce in Maryland through refined, targeted academic research that informs repeatable, reliable practices and results.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

Airspace Awareness Pilot

Amount: $150,000

Funding for this project will be used by the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) to pilot a persistent drone detection and airspace awareness capability supporting major events and routine public safety operations across Prince George’s County. The project will deploy fixed monitoring nodes at high-attendance locations, including National Harbor and the area surrounding Northwest Stadium, combined with mobile monitoring kits that patrol units could use countywide. This will enable continuous monitoring during large gatherings while allowing patrol teams to investigate drone activity in real-time. Mobile kits also support aviation deconfliction and incident response, helping officers identify and track unauthorized drones while recognizing and whitelisting authorized aircraft used for emergency response and law enforcement drone programs. The project will also support information sharing between neighboring jurisdictions, as drones frequently move across municipal and county boundaries.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

Municipal Police Interoperable Communications

Amount: $3,000,000

Funding for this project will be used to equip 152 municipal police officers across 9 jurisdictions within Maryland's Fourth Congressional District with modern, encrypted radio systems. The radios will provide secure, reliable, and interoperable communication across jurisdictions, enabling officers to effectively coordinate during emergencies, critical incidents, and day-to-day policing operations. Encrypted communication systems help ensure that local law enforcement operations remain secure from unauthorized monitoring or interception. This funding will directly improve public safety outcomes across multiple communities while strengthening coordinated law enforcement throughout the region.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science

CyberSmart: A Cyber Safety and STEM Learning Program

Amount Requested: $1,165,000
Funding for this project will support Maryland chapters of the National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues (PAL) in piloting the CyberSmart program, a hands-on, activity-based program teaching youth to stay safe online while building STEM skills, problem-solving abilities, and digital confidence. The program will partner law enforcement officers with local youth to recognize and avoid online risks such as scams, phishing, and malware. The program will also teach youth how to practice safe behavior on social media, gaming platforms, and messaging apps, and how to understand digital footprints and online privacy. The program plans to further engage youth in understanding networking technologies, password engineering, systems thinking, data security, pattern recognition, logical reasoning, creative prototyping, and coding, potentially sparking an interest to pursue careers in cybersecurity.

Subcommittee: Commerce-Justice-Science