LA County prepares for influx of inmates
On October 1st, prisoners from 33 state prisons who are released on parole will begin reporting to county probation officers, rather than state parole agents. This is the result of AB 109, signed into law this year, which ordered a sharp reduction in California’s prison population in an attempt to deal with severe overcrowding and medical inadequacies in the state penal system. In addition to the non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offender inmates, newly convicted low-level offenders will be remanded to county supervision – including community programs or local jails – rather than state prisons. Defendants under warrant could be allowed to wear electronic ankle bracelets in lieu of jail. Supporters of prison reform applaud the changes. They say counties are better equipped to provide rehabilitation and re-entry support, such as substance-abuse counseling, mental and medical care and housing, and hope it will lead to a reduction in recidivism. But many worry that the state’s $112 million allocation to the county for the first year is inadequate to the task, and that the already-strapped LAPD can ill afford the additional probation officers they’ll need to deploy. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley called the plan a “disaster” and predicted it would lead to a spike in crime. Today, Los Angeles county supervisors will meet to decide how to track, manage and integrate the incoming felons – nearly 10,000 over the next four years. “They’re going to be coming fast and furious,” one supervisor said, “We’d better be ready.” Could these changes – and the increase in ex-prisoners walking the streets – lead to a rise in crime? Or do you see this as a better, smarter way to treat the problems of re-offense and recidivism? Is this a practical, humane solution to California’s prison woes – or the off-loading of the problem onto its unprepared counties?
On October 1st, prisoners from 33 state prisons who are released on parole will begin reporting to county probation officers, rather than state parole agents. This is the result of AB 109, signed into law this year, which ordered a sharp reduction in California’s prison population in an attempt to deal with severe overcrowding and medical inadequacies in the state penal system. In addition to the non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offender inmates, newly convicted low-level offenders will be remanded to county supervision – including community programs or local jails – rather than state prisons. Defendants under warrant could be allowed to wear electronic ankle bracelets in lieu of jail. Supporters of prison reform applaud the changes. They say counties are better equipped to provide rehabilitation and re-entry support, such as substance-abuse counseling, mental and medical care and housing, and hope it will lead to a reduction in recidivism. But many worry that the state’s $112 million allocation to the county for the first year is inadequate to the task, and that the already-strapped LAPD can ill afford the additional probation officers they’ll need to deploy. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley called the plan a “disaster” and predicted it would lead to a spike in crime. Today, Los Angeles county supervisors will meet to decide how to track, manage and integrate the incoming felons – nearly 10,000 over the next four years. “They’re going to be coming fast and furious,” one supervisor said, “We’d better be ready.” Could these changes – and the increase in ex-prisoners walking the streets – lead to a rise in crime? Or do you see this as a better, smarter way to treat the problems of re-offense and recidivism? Is this a practical, humane solution to California’s prison woes – or the off-loading of the problem onto its unprepared counties?
Guest:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC Reporter
