SMPD, Residents Concerned About State Releasing Quarter of Prison Inmates

Lieutenant Steve Johnson said he and some local residents are concerned about Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that will force California to release tens of thousands of prisoners in the coming years, even though the exact implications for local police departments and San Marino remain to be seen.

In a 5-4 ruling issued Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that California's overcrowded prisons violate inmates’ constitutional rights and constitute cruel and unusual punishment by endangering prisoners' health and safety. The court's ruling upheld a California District Court decision made by a three-judge panel that orders the state to release between 38,000 and 46,000 prisoners in the next two years.

“Nobody ever wants to mistreat anybody but it’s also a balancing act,” Johnson said Wednesday regarding the ruling that overcrowding violates inmates’ rights. “The details haven’t been worked out but it’s an issue and I would see it having an immediate impact on all communities throughout California. We’re talking about thousands of people being released and having the same amount of parole officers that will not be able to monitor them so it’s a great concern for us.”

David Fathi, director of the ACLU's National Prison Project, applauded the court's decision to address "the egregious and extreme overcrowding in California’s prisons" in a statement issued Monday.

"Today’s decision crystallizes the urgent need for California to invest in meaningful parole and sentencing reforms and alternatives to incarceration, especially for low-level, non-violent offenders," Fathi wrote.

The state currently has about 142,000 inmates in its prisons, according to the Los Angeles Times, and Los Angeles County is the most populous in the state.

By law, local law enforcement agencies must be notified about parolees being released in their area, said Johnson, though the criteria for who will be released is currently unknown so the SMPD will not make a specific plan of action until they know the amount and the nature of inmates being released in the local area. While some released prisoners will not have any problems some will have a lot of problems, Johnson said.

“We may be working with adjoining police agencies because a parolee in Alhambra still may affect us so we need to work together and there will be information-sharing and hopefully we’ll work everything out and get everyone working together to prevent problems,” said Johnson. “Hopefully the people being paroled truly reform themselves.”

Johnson said local residents have called the SMPD or approached him in town to share their worry about the ruling.

“Some are elderly people or people with children and that’s a major concern to them,” said Johnson. “If there’s concern about their safety we need to continue with our . That’s one of the best things we can ever do—be a little more vigilant.”