HOW MANY EARLY-RELEASED PRISONERS ARE LIVING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?

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El Cajon tops list for East County at 50; La Mesa has 7 yet crime rate has gone down

By Miriam Raftery

February 29, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – Under court order to reduce prison overcrowding, the state passed AB 109 to allow transfer of many prisoners to county jails. In San Diego County, that resulted in 950 prisoners being released early to ease overcrowding in the County jail.  Tonight, La Mesa Police Chief Ed Aceves shared statistics on how many of those prisoners have wound up in East County communities.

El Cajon is now home to 50 early-release prisoners, the second highest in the County after Escondido at 55.  Spring Valley has 26, followed by Lemon Grove with 18, La Mesa at 7, Santee 6, Bonita 3, Alpine 2, and Warner Springs, Campo and Descanso with 1 apiece.  Prisoners were released back into the communities where they lived at the time of their arrests.  A whopping 213 were listed as transients when arrested, however, and Chief Aceves indicated he is unsure where those prisoners were released.

San Diego County was anticipating receiving about 2,000 prisoners from the state overall, Chief Aceves said.

The main problem for local law enforcement has been “no permanent funding for front-line law enforcement,” he indicated, but praised the efforts of police and Sheriff officials in San Diego for working together to minimize the problems.  But he cautioned, “It’s going to impact our agency and all of them on that list.”

Still, there may be some silver linings.  First, La Mesa  hopes to ultimately gain two new probation officers if funding requests are approved—officers who could also help keep tabs on 130 probationers already living in the city. 

Second, Mayor Art Madrid noted that “in the olden days, it was known that California prisons provided educational opportunities for those incarcerated…But in the last few years with budget cuts they go in, watch TV and learn how to commit more crimes, then they come out with no skills.”

Indeed, the state’s recidivism rate is a staggering 70%, while the county has only a 30% recidivism rate.  Mayor Madrid called the state system a “failure” at rehabilitating prisoners.  He also faulted special interests and the three-strikes law for increasing incarceration times and exacerbating prison crowding. Under three-strikes, a person faces mandatory life imprisonment for a third offense, even when the third strike offense is nonviolent.

City Manager Dave Witt noted that the County “has a potential to do a better job than the state has done.”  He predicted that the change could lead to a reduction in the rate of recidivism, or the number of offenders who commit new offenses and wind up back behind bars “if it’s funded properly.”  If the state fails to provide such funding to assist at the local level, he predicted the consequences could be “catastrophic.”

Chief Aceves indicated the main problem was that the state made its decision swiftly, allowing local governments no time to build more jails or otherwise prepare.  But he agreed that in the end, “there could be an advantage.”

New jail housing slated to come online within the next year or two will lessen the number of prisoners released before their sentences are fully served, Sheriff Bill Gore has indicated. 

“It would be good to rehabilitate some with minor offenses,” Councilwoman Ruth Sterling indicated, “so that we can feel more secure when they are going back out into our cities.”

Prisoners released early are not violent predators, but those considered to be lower risk offenders. That can, however, include drug offenders and thieves—categories where reoffending is high without intervention to address the root causes of crime.  Providing more rehabilitative services, such as drug treatment and job training skills, can prove to be wise investments over the long term, all agreed. 

The good news in Chief Aceves’ report was that La Mesa’s overall crime level in 2011 dropped to 30.2 crimes per 1,000 residents, according to the FBI crime index—the lowest level since 1966 and dramatically down from the all-time high of 69.6/1,000 back in 1990.

If you find that surprising, it may be because the City of La Mesa is far better than most other jurisdictions at reporting all or nearly all crimes to the media; even a purse snatching or cell phone theft will warrant a press release. By contrast, in unincorporated areas only a handful of major crimes are reported to the media and public; even some violent crimes are not reported (despite requests from ECM for improved reporting of these crimes). 

“Our thefts were down quite a bit,” La Mesa’s Police Chief told Council members at this evening’s meeting, adding that eight robbers were arrested in October and November following a brief crime spree. The city had one homicide.  La Mesa Police officers are also “using technology to our advantage” including  identifying suspects in four burglaries through DNA or fingerprints.  Police held a robbery forum attended by 55 businesses that are open 24 hours and have been working with neighborhood watch groups as well. 

Neighborhood Watch now includes emergency preparedness in La Mesa, where a public meeting for residents interested in forming a Neighborhood Watch group will be held on Thursday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the community center, 4976 Memorial Drive in La Mesa.

 

 

 


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