by Jack
Regarding todays article in the ER, Butte County Agencies Commended for Response to AB109. I don’t want anyone to misconstrue the positive comments made today in the ER to mean AB109, prison realignment or even Prop 147, sentence reductions, has been a good a thing for us. CSUC Professor Caudill and Sheriff Honea are only commending the local agencies for doing a good job in the wake of these disastrous new laws.
The ER’s article noted that recidivism rates remain about the same locally, but that does not necessarily convert to crime rates remaining the same.
Recidivism is in large part predicated on law enforcements ability to catch offenders and return them to prison. Logic says, if law enforcement (including parole agents and probation officers) have not increased their numbers, chances are the recidivism rate will not be inordinately impacted as crime increases, there will be a lag time and that’s where we are right now.
What we are seeing across the State are examples that strongly hint crime is spiking. The types of crime and the timing of their increase is not-so-coincidentally tied directly to AB109 and Prop 47 going into effect.
Maybe Sheriff Honea is currently able to say his department’s crime stats remain on “trajectory,” but many other communities have not. If we talk to those law enforcement agencies (and I have talked to many of them) they tell a whole other story. Crime is on the rise and they see a direct connection to AB109 and Prop 47. In fact, I heard this stated from Oroville PD officers just last Tuesday. The officers on the frontline are the first to notice a change in crime patterns, so when they speak, it’s wise to listen.
The stats for 2015 are still be gathered, so they must be viewed as a lagging indicator. The true picture can’t be known for many months as data is gathered. However, until then we can make some logical deductions. Let’s keep on sampling cities in California that have their crime stats current. So far that sampling says a virtual crime wave is taking place. And so says, RealClear Politics – San Francisco reports: In the Wake of Proposition 47, California Sees a Crime Wave.
Sacramento Bee – “It’s been nine months since California voters approved a ballot measure reducing charges for some nonviolent drug and property crimes, and repeat offenders are getting savvy about the new limits of the law. These guys know that if they are running around with less than $950 of stolen property on them, they’re not going to jail,” he said. “They’re always trying to stay a step ahead of us.” Officer Wesley Herman, Citrus Heights.
CSUC Professor Caudill admits, AB109 has been blamed for a 115 percent increase in “failure to appear” charges in the county, which are charges brought on when defendants miss a court date they promised to appear on.” ER story. That’s a hint of worse to come. The message for you to know is, many of the new penalties are not acting as a deterrent. When that happens crime starts creeping up until its intolerable and here come the tough sentencing laws again. 
Our crime has been going down for the last decade because of tough penalties, but that results in locking people up and that costs money. So, we have a choice, we either pay in terms of being a victim or we pay in terms of being a taxpayer and skip the personal risk part.
Sadly, we knew CA would not hold the line on tough sentencing, because the bleeding heart liberals have been gaining in strength and screwing up everything, from the state budget to taxes and now the criminal justice system. Liberals – they are so predictable and so wrong. They support the criminal and they could care less about the victims. They eagerly gloss over the reasons the crook is locked up. So now we are going backwards again, forced to re-learning the lessons of the past and the cycle repeats itself.
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Steve Bordin, the county’s chief probation officer, said the challenges law enforcement agencies have faced because of AB109 have been “huge.” Key word: HUGE. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to interpret that does it? Obviously this points to the fact that they suddenly have an even greater case load supervise. That’s never a good sign for crime in any community! Another red flag.
It’s great that “everybody in Butte County stepped up together and addressed it as a team,” but they wouldn’t be making this extra effort if AB109 and Prop 47 had not put more criminals on the street. They can’t keep up their extra efforts forever – then what?
The report by Professor Caudill shows an increase in charges for drug related offenses in the years after AB109 was implemented, but a decrease in charges for property offenses.
Researchers found drug possession, resisting or obstructing a peace officer and possession of drug paraphernalia among the top five violations for post-release community supervision offenders. Those were followed by being under the influence of drugs and failure to appear at a work release program. Drug offenses do generate other kinds of crime, even thought there may be some lag time in reporting the increases. The nexus is there, drugs really “do generate many other kinds of crimes,” this is a historical fact.
Honea concludes the ER article with this, “We’re not done, and clearly we’re going to have to continue to address both offenders and the underlying cause of criminality, and their impact on the community both in terms if theft-related crimes and potentially violent crimes as we go forward.” There’s a statement I can sure agree with!
It all so stupid and frankly, I am sick of the liberal morons (democrats) that ruin this state.
“So we have a choice, we either pay in terms of being a victim or we pay in terms of being a taxpayer. Sadly, we knew we could not hold the line on tough sentencing forever, because the bleeding heart liberals have been gaining in strength in CA and screwing up everything” Excellent comment!
Typically until the “Bleeding heart liberal” ,actually feel the pain of being a victim and experience real bleeding, be it themselves or someone close to them, their heads will remain in a dark cavern. They have used ,as Jack points out skewed numbers on Recidivism, as with most all their arguments on anything they support, facts are not necessary to them, they just need feel good moments.
And as Tina has frequently pointed out, Liberals will champion something until there is no longer any political worth in it for their cause and move on to the next hot topic.
And as to their position on Anti-Gun ownership, they will learn, albeit the hard way, that the gun was just a tool, it is the murderer committing the crime, be it a blade, hammer, or even a sharp stick, criminals adapt fast (as pointed out about the $950,00) way faster than Liberals who just knee jerk react, always one step behind the crime curve.
In their Liberal airy fairy world there is never enough of someone else’s tax dollars for welfare, shelters and illegals to support those who exist without effort. But always too much money to provide us with basic protection, which is Governments primary purpose.
Good article PS, just hoping maybe it will open some minds.
Thanks, Jack! I had a good giggle over your photo of yet another low-level offender.
Margaret Atwood has written her latest novel just for you. Give it a look.
There’s another element in this that should be noted. Now that things have gone to he77 in a hand basket the state is passing the responsibility to the counties. The costs involved in building jails and establishing these mandated special rehab programs is horrendous. Sure we probably will get some help up front but in the future it will all be on local citizens/economies to maintain them.
But then we’ve known for a long time that liberals don’t manage the people’s money well and they always leave it to someone else to clean up the messes they make.
Libby, I would be happy to read the ladies book, if it was interesting and well done. So, am I take it that you support reduced sentencing and the prison realignment?
Libby’s world seems that of a Utopian society that is easy-peasy.
The reality of what actually happens when people depend on over burdened Government has very little meaning to her, as long as those people are not bumping her out of a spot at the Government trough.
But as the trough grows empty (Governments eventually run out of others money)do to an socialist style of Government incapable of replenishing it on the backs of a dwindling amount of working people. People will begin to realize they are nothing but the working class for social sloth, so they too may join in on the largest.
Liberal thinkers in general may never learn people need the self respect that can only come from self reliance and that personnel accountability it is not the evil philosophy of capitalism, as it is being voiced by pandering progressive political liberals of today.
Harold progressives have to distort everything to sell their policies and ideals. The notion that capitalism is evil in and of itself is absurd. Hillary and Bernie travel around in transportation and use devices of communication daily which are the result of a healthy capitalistic society. They spit the word capitalism, damning it with examples of a few greedy people to undermine the system. Then they promote socialism as the fair system when in reality the same greedy few still have lots of money and people with less ambitions still live in poverty BUT the middle class disappears as i is disappearing today under Obama’s big government, big spending, progressive policies.