The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES- About 1 in 10 inmates released early from Los Angeles County jails were arrested and charged with new crimes while they were supposed to be behind bars, a newspaper reported Sunday.
An investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that in the past four years, nearly 16,000 inmates released without serving their full sentences were re-arrested, including 16 men who were charged with murder.
More than a quarter of those were charged with violent or life-endangering crimes such as robbery and drunken driving.
Some inmates were freed early _ sometimes spending only days in jail _ despite judges’ orders that they serve their full terms, the newspaper said.
“That puts us all in peril,” City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said. “I think criminals have learned from this that there is a way to beat the system. ... For many, a few days in jail has become just a cost of doing business.”
A sheriff’s department analysis of booking statistics since 1999 found that inmates released early were no more likely to be re-arrested than those who served full terms, the Times said.
Sheriff Lee Baca, whose department runs the nation’s largest jail system, has said the early releases were a last resort to cut millions of dollars in budget shortfalls and deal with continued overcrowding.
The system has about 19,000 jail beds in use but Baca said at least 30,000 would be needed to end the early releases.