California Prison Parolees in L.A. Might End up Under Sheriff's Supervision Because County Probation Department is so Troubled

By Dennis Romero Fri., Jul. 8 2011 at 5:38 PM

Categories: Crime

Sheriff Lee Baca, left, with county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

How bad is the L.A. County Probation Department?

So bad that the county's leaders are actually looking at giving state parolee supervision duties, which would normally be taken over by local probation officials, to the department of L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca.

This after the state legislature passed a law passing the parolee supervision to localities in order to save California some cash.

On Tuesday ...

... the L.A. County Board of Supervisors will discuss whether to give the parolee-supervision duties to the Sheriff's Department or Probation when the transfer of duties takes place Oct. 1.

Today Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas issued this statement:

The dysfunction at Probation is so severe that I believe a majority of the Board of Supervisors would do the unusual by turning over parolees to the Sheriff's Department. This speaks volumes. A police officer's job is to identify, investigate and arrest suspected criminals. A parole officer, by contrast, must prepare a person's transition to society after incarceration. Some would argue combining the roles creates an obvious confusion of missions, if not an outright conflict of interest. A parolee's trust and confidence in a parole officer is essential. Is it realistic to think a parolee will confide in a Sheriff's deputy who has the authority to arrest him?

Yeah, it's that bad:

Only under the most strained of circumstances would I accept giving a police agency control over parolees. Sadly, the current crisis in the Los Angeles County Probation Dept. is such a circumstance.

The department has been rocked in recent years by allegations that officers used county credit cards to buy personal items like flat screen TVs, and that some who worked with juveniles were disciplined for "inappropriate contact."

And so Ridley-Thomas is proposing that the 13,000 or so parolees who would come under the responsibility of the county be handed over to the Sheriff's Department for supervision for a year to a year-and-a-half before a hopefully reformed Probation Department would then take over.

And where is the Probation Department's chief officer when it's time to lobby for his people? Donald Blevins was at the Chief Probation Officers of California's quarterly meeting in San Diego this week.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]

Tags:

Donald Blevins, L.A. County Probation, Lee Baca, Los Angeles, Mark Ridley-Thomas, parole, prisoners, probation

We Recommend

sassar

fuck the cdcr and anyone else who is trying to get me to live as i do not wish... im just saying in general, fuck anyone who thinks they know where i should live my life... bad day at home with the wife... somoene's gonna get it (it being a prison term)

Johnnygomez

The saddest part of all of this, comes with the overall plan that Probation presented to the County Supervisors. Probation is asking to armed 20-22 deputies, no less than lethal weapons, no tactical helmets, no tactical vest, no shotguns, no pick and rams, not even handcuffs were requested.....I'm really wondering how you expect a probation officer to door knock this group of high risk criminals that love automatic and semi-automatic rifles versus a probation officer's toying with a 9mm. This department is sending these people to their deaths!

Julia Negron

One thing not mentioned (and too be considered..) CDCR parole agents ARE mostly "law enforcement" - the larger percentage of them having formerly been Correctional Officers at CA prisons. They (like "correctional counselors" in CA prisons) are not exactly what their name implies, but more record keepers than anything else. Probation Officers have more training in "social work" so I am curious to see what kind of planning and re-entry systems they might implement. Has any proposal been put forth other than the jockeying back and forth over the potential funding? Probation dept clearly needs to step up and make their case! I am a bit shocked over the council potentially siding with Baca, but perhaps they see this as a way to enhance the Sheriffs dept. budget?

evets

The leadership of the Probation department is dysfunctional not it's workers. Yet the supervisors have not done anything like getting rid of the deputy chiefs and bureaus chiefs.