Just rember everyone..GUNS cause crimes..not criminals....thats why in calf they release inmates who commit assults and ban assult weapons.
Nearly 120,000 L.A. Jail Inmates Released Early
More Than Half Left Jail Within One To Two Days
POSTED: 7:52 am PST November 25, 2004
UPDATED: 2:29 pm PST November 25, 2004
LOS ANGELES -- Nearly 120,000 convicted offenders have been released from jail over the past 2 1/2 years without serving their full sentences, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.
The figure released Wednesday was nearly double the number offered a month ago by Sheriff Lee Baca. He made the early releases part of his unsuccessful campaign for Measure A, which would have raised the county's sales tax to pay for more police officers and deputies.
"They are pretty much walked through the system," said Sheriff's Chief Chuck Jackson, who heads the department's Correctional Services Division. "We're releasing a whole lot of folks early from L.A. County jail."
When sheriff's officials began releasing inmates early to save money in June 2002, they screened prisoners to decide how much time they should serve. Since last year, they have released all but the most serious offenders after they served less than 10 percent of their sentences, officials said.
More than half of inmates released early -- 62,090 inmates -- left jail within a day or two, despite having been sentenced to up to three months for crimes including burglary, drunk driving and minor assaults, according to the figures.
Sex offenders, child abusers, and anyone sentenced to jail for murder or attempted murder are still required to serve 100 percent of their sentences, Jackson said.
Inmates convicted of spousal abuse must serve 50 percent of their sentences.
Prosecutors have asked the sheriff's department to notify domestic violence victims when their attackers are released early, but in some cases that has not happened, said Katie Buckland, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles city attorney's office.
"They're released, and they get home, and they're in a rage," she said. Some victims were attacked again, she said.
Baca began releasing inmates after the county Board of Supervisors refused to increase his budget. He said he did not have enough deputies to staff one of the most overcrowded jail systems in the country.
Closing detention centers reduced the jail system's capacity from 22,000 inmates to 17,500 inmates.
After Measure A's failure, supervisors asked the county's chief administrative officer and the sheriff to determine how much it would cost to end the early releases. A report is due early next month.
Police chiefs, judges and prosecutors say the releases undermine one of the best deterrents to crime.
The Los Angeles Police Department has begun deploying officers in the jails to monitor repeat offenders identified as "predatory criminals" who are soon to be released, said Deputy Chief Gary Brennan, who runs the LAPD's Detective Bureau.
The officers talk to inmates and notify officers that they are about to be set free, Brennan said.
"It puts them on notice that we're paying attention, but it also puts the local cops in the field on notice," he said.
Jackson said he discovered that earlier tallies of inmates released early were wrong while going over updated figures. The old numbers did not include inmates who were released almost as soon as they were sentenced, he said.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
