LAKE COUNTY — On Tuesday, the day after Governor Jerry Brown signed in to law the Public Safety Realignment Bill SB 85 and AB 109, Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero provided a statement to the media.
“This bill should not have been signed by Governor Brown for many reasons, not the least of which is the lack of guaranteed funding and the danger it poses to public safety” said Sheriff Rivero. Besides not being funded, Rivero remained skeptical about the “realignment” idea, which he said was designed to shift responsibility for criminals who should be in state prisons on to the local jurisdictions.
Rivero said the Governor”s bill would exclude hundreds of major felony crimes from state prison. The bill excludes from state prison: most drug offenses including methamphetamine sales, drug sales to children, felony child abuse, felony elder financial abuse, forcible assaults, gang recruitment, hate crimes, DUI related manslaughter, identity theft, violations of the gun-free school zone act and a host of over 500 other felony crimes.
Rivero stated that the Governor”s bill would transfer jurisdiction (sentences) for these serious offenses from state prison to local county jails. Rivero concluded that this would likely result in overcrowding at the local jails including Lake County”s Hill Road Correctional facility in Lakeport.
Rivero stated that “the overcrowding would in turn lead to the early release of dangerous felons onto our streets.”
“In order to curb the release of dangerous felons, Lake county taxpayers will be left to foot the bill for what will be a rapid jail facility expansion program and the hiring of many more correctional officers to guard the inmates,” said Sheriff Rivero. He added that the release of prisoners will also necessitate many more deputy sheriffs and police officers to combat the predictable crime wave.
Rivero said what further complicates matters is the increased population of high-level, high-risk felony criminals who would be transferred to the county jails for their confinements would require that serious criminals who have committed a variety of misdemeanor crimes including DUI, domestic violence and sex crimes are likely to serve little time, if any, because of bed space restrictions. “The overcrowding would also cause severe restrictions in the holding of new arrestees, those awaiting trial, probation violators, and parole violators,” he stated.
Rivero said, “probation and parole for many offenders will be dropped or severely limited and dangerous felons will go unmonitored under AB 109”s new ?post supervision release” system. No parole officers, No GPS tracking and an overwhelming case load for the county”s probation officers,” according to Rivero”s assessment of SB109 release program.
Rivero said “I agree with local control of public safety by the county sheriff”s office and police departments, but this “realignment” scheme posses a grave danger to the public. This is about the state abandoning its responsibility to the criminal justice system to the detriment of the citizens of California”
Rivero stated he would “vigorously fight the implementation of the AB 109.” He asks members of the public to join him by calling the Governor and representatives to voice the public”s opposition to the bill.
