GOV. MOONBEAM’S REALIGNMENT PAROLEES DO NOT FEAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISCARDING THEIR GPS TRACKING DEVICES

KCRA News reports “482 parolees, or more than double that number, cut off their devices in the 15 months after realignment — a jump of 118 percent”

What’s a few days in the slammer if you get caught compared to roaming around freely without the authorities knowing your whereabouts or what you are doing?

GPS BRACELET TAMPERING ON THE RISE IN CALIFORNIA
Numbers jump after realignment

KCRA.com
February 11, 2013

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —The number of dangerous criminals cutting off or tampering with their GPS tracking devices has risen dramatically in California since Gov. Jerry Brown launched his controversial prison realignment plan, according to new figures from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The new numbers show 221 felons tampered with the electronic monitoring devices in the 15 months before realignment.

But 482 parolees, or more than double that number, cut off their devices in the 15 months after realignment -- a jump of 118 percent, according to figures released by the CDCR to Sen. Ted Lieu.

"These dangerous parolees have figured out they can cut off their ankle bracelets with little or no consequence," Lieu told KCRA 3.

No consequence, because as KCRA 3 first reported last November, cutting a GPS device under realignment is just a parole violation, often resulting in offenders spending just a few days in a county jail.

On its website, CDCR describes realignment as " the cornerstone of California’s solution for reducing the number of inmates in the state’s 33 prisons to 137.5 percent of design capacity by June 27, 2013, as ordered by the Three-Judge Court and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court."

Under a bill introduced by Lieu, felons who cut off their GPS bracelets would go back to prison.

Lieu said that 482 violators actually may be a higher number, based on a conversation he had Monday with the Department of Corrections.

"We believe the numbers are even worse, because these are just the folks that, they are able to re-arrest after they've cut off their bracelets," he said. "There's another larger group of folks that have cut off their bracelets that no one has found."

Lieu's bill to make GPS tampering a felony will be the subject of state hearings next month.