Anne Arundel County hired a senior project manager for its new hate crimes prevention program Monday.
Nicola “Dr. Nikki” Smith-Kea will use a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to start the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Nikki on board to help us move this work to the next level,” said County Executive Pittman in the announcement.
Smith-Kea will manage initiatives involving law enforcement, policymakers, research institutes, national organizations and advocates. The program includes leadership-level training on hate crime investigation strategies, enhancing police department staffing for community outreach and purchasing surveillance equipment to capture incidents occurring at night.
Anne Arundel County applied for the grant in 2023 following Pittman’s 2020 Hate Bias Forum, according to a spokesperson. The forum was created after the 2018 State of Maryland Hate Bias Report revealed Anne Arundel County led the state in reported hate-bias incidents.
The number of hate bias incidents in Anne Arundel County has declined 42% from 2019 to 2023, according to the Anne Arundel County Hate Bias Incident Dashboard, which uses data from the Anne Arundel County Police Department.
Two acts of vandalism that took place earlier this year at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Glen Burnie were both investigated by Anne Arundel Police as hate crimes.
Push’N Pedals Cycling Club rode through downtown Annapolis on Friday night to promote inclusion and kindness following what members described as a racist attack during a bike ride through the city earlier this summer. The group was riding through Annapolis on June 28 when pedestrians began to hurl racial slurs, and a car full of people attacked them with bear mace and a rock, club president Josh Jenkins said.
Anne Arundel County received three times the original grant request and is the only county entity in Maryland to be awarded the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program Grant in this application cycle.
Previously, Smith-Kea worked as a senior policy analyst and technical assistance manager for the New York-based Council of State Governments Justice Center, a nonprofit research association. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, a master’s in sociology from the University of the West Indies, a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in leadership and change from Antioch University in Ohio.
Smith-Kea will manage the county’s Hate Crime Prevention Program under the direction of the Office of Equity and Human Rights.
