|
California Department of Corrections Paroles Department, Latest Target of the State
|
March 3, 2005 - On Wednesday lawmakers conducted a state Senate informational hearing to discuss California's parole system as another thorn in the state's expanding prison budget. The recidivism "hot button" was discussed again, as the officials picked apart the system. They debated whether or not the social service connection program run by local police departments work, and noted that the system's new alternatives to re-incarceration as implemented by the Governor have not been effective.
Clearly, much still needs to be worked out with the policies of the department, as parole line agents, administration officials, lawmakers and the public alike are all in agreement that Schwarzenegger's new system model is clearly not being as effective as they'd hoped. Senator Romero told reporters that she was "sobered" by the reports that came out from the Sacramento Bee over the weekend about the lower return rate for parole violations and the increased return rate for more crimes as a direct result of the new policies. Rod Hickman confirmed that the new policy, "has not been as successful as we'd like" in another interview.
Mike Jimenez, President of the CCPOA blasted the current overhaul effort as "poorly thought out" and said that the policies gave "little consequence to public safety." After Jimenez rallied against the Corrections Manager, Senator John Campbell (Irvine) said that his comments were not "constructive" and then suggested that the CCPOA President was "self-interested" and in need of "anger management."
"Don't mistake my passion for anger," Jimenez replied.
Those who are truly "in the know" agree that the administration system needs a definite overhaul, but lawmakers like Romero who get their information from places like the Sacramento Bee and other anti-law enforcement type media organizations don't have a clue. They attack officers, they attack the parole system, they attack the union - but they don't get to the heart of the matter, the administration sector where policies are created, carried out and ultimately cause many of the problems that the system is faced with today.
The major focus of this latest attack, however, was based upon new information that circulated in the hearing, stating that "inmates do not have to attend the pre-release program" that Jim L'Etoile, acting parole director, has said is mandatory. The program brings community-based groups in to inform inmates about social services that are available to them on the outside after their release.
What L'Etoile actually said was not that they "do not have to attend" - but that "the degree to which inmates participate is really up to them." He went on to state that some inmates are "not as receptive as others." Does that mean that they don't have to attend? It means that the programs are offered and what the inmates do with it is ultimately up to them. Getting them to pay attention and actually use the information is a whole other story.
Under the release program, local law enforcement work with the paroles division to get these offenders active in regional and local social service offerings. However, L'Etoile says, none of these programs has been evaluated to see whether it keeps parolees "straight" or not. The current programs are not working up to the original standards set by the Governor's administration, as they have been limited by a lack of space and equipment. Halfway houses were expected to run 1025 beds statewide, but only have 900. The drug treatment programs were supposed to treat 1300 parolees, but only has 930 spaces available. The electronic monitoring - one of the biggest parts of this new system - has been delayed over a contract squabble, and would have been monitoring 8,000 parolees.
Of course, the Coalition for Effective Public Safety has the solution. It says that any reform effort is destined to fail if it doesn't reduce the number of inmates and parolees under state control. "They only way to fix the system is to get people out of it," said CEPS representative Sean South.
Well, why didn't we think of that before?
* Sources: www.sacbee.com & www.corr.ca.gov
Related CCPOAIronwood.com Articles:
Do California's Low Recidivism Rates Equal More Violent Crimes?
|
|
