August
20, 2014
The
Desert Sun
By Tatiana Sanchez
The
Indio City Council on Wednesday reviewed the city's response to a Riverside
County grand jury report detailing the regional effects of AB 109, 2011
legislation that realigned the state's correctional system to ease overcrowding
in state prisons.
The
12-page letter, approved with a 5-0 vote and with no discussion, provides the
city's required response to the June 17 grand jury report.
Mayor
Michael Wilson attended the meeting via teleconference from Maui, Hawaii.
The
civil grand jury cited good and bad results since implementation of the
realignment program in October 2011.
The
city's letter acknowledges that as with many law enforcement agencies, AB 109
strained resources within the Indio Police Department and throughout the
county.
"While
the intent of realignment was to relieve overcrowding within the state prisons,
the immediate impact at the county level was overwhelming," the city's
response letter stated. "As of the date of this response, the city has
received $0 to provide services for the rehabilitation of inmates and
probationers sent from State custody."
The
city, however, can submit invoices to the Beaumont Police Department for up to
$200,000, to recover costs for a detective with the East Post-Release
Accountability and Compliance Team.
PACT
works with probation to focus on at-risk and at-large offenders.
The
city's letter responds to five of the findings within the grand jury report and
only "partially agreed" with each of the findings. According to the
report, one of the most significant shortcomings since AB 109 took effect has
been a lack of communication between law enforcement agencies.
The
grand jury report found that the Riverside County sheriff's and probation
departments lacked consistency in informing municipal police agencies of the
upcoming release of a convict.
Indio,
however, disagreed with this finding.
"The
Indio Police Department receives at least weekly Post-Release Community
Supervision Information Reports from Probation," the city's letter stated,
adding that the sheriff's and probation departments also provide quarterly
updates at Coachella Valley Association of Governments meetings, which are
attended by elected and public safety officials from Indio.
As
a result of overcrowding, between Jan. 1, 2012, and June 12, 2014, 21,800
inmates have been released from the county's jails before completing their
sentences or having their cases adjudicated, according to sheriff's department
figures. The early releases are known as "fed kicks" because of a
1993 federal court decision mandating that each county inmate have a bed, or
else the sheriff is required to free some inmates in order to make room for incoming
ones.
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