Sep 1, 2009 10:33 pm US/Pacific
Irvine Prof: 27K Freed Inmates Will Raise Crime
IRVINE (CBS News) ―
A professor in Irvine has a warning for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you reduce the state's prison population by 27,000, as is planned with the new budget, you can expect crime to skyrocket in the state.
UC Irvine criminologist John Hipp released a study Tuesday that suggests crime shoots up in neighborhoods when parolees are released.
Hipp said his study is the first of its kind: researchers analyzed monthly crime statistics in correlation with parolee releases in specific neighborhoods.
Hipp's survey, which studied neighborhoods in Sacramento because he said it is a good sample of economic and ethnic demographics, showed that if the parolees have violent backgrounds, murder rates increase. The same is true of reports of aggravated assault, robbery and burglary, according to Hipp.
However, he also wants to point out that the reverse is true. The crime rates decrease when parolees move back into solid, longtime neighborhoods and neighborhoods where there are groups providing the kinds of services parolees need to rebuild their lives and stay out of trouble, Hipp said.
The study looked at Sacramento over a four-year period.
"What we were trying to do is pull it all apart and see month to month as the parolees go back into the neighborhoods do we see a change in crime," said Hipp.
The early prison-release plan was already a hot topic of debate in the state
capital, but it grew even more intense after Phillip Garrido, a parolee and
registered sex offender, was arrested for allegedly abducting Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 years old and holding her hostage for 18 years.
In addition to budget woes, the state's prison system is also under a federal consent decree to reduce the number of inmates because the government believes California prisons are so overcrowded that inmate's civil rights are being violated.
Schwarzenegger backs legislation to reduce the inmate population by
about 37,000 over the next few years. The governor believes California can send more convicts to county jails or ordering more home confinement.
The Assembly passed a bill Monday cutting prison spending by about $1 billion, but it excised a Senate bill's proposed release of older prisoners.
"It's a tough situation to be in to have to release people," Hipp said. "In some ways it's an obvious thing: If you're stuck then release them, but be careful who you release."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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