Riverside County Jails Release Inmates, Leave Community Worried

Riverside County jails released 57 inmates early this weekend to help alleviate overcrowding. The moves are a result of a new state law, which took effect in October. The state prison realignment requires parolees and nonviolent criminals to serve their sentences in county jails.

Also called Assembly Bill 109, the law has led to a steady rise in population at county jails including in Indio. In November, 467 inmates were moved to Riverside locations, making up 13 percent of the total capacity. The most recent numbers in January show the numbers have risen to 735 inmates, a rise to 19.7 percent.

The moves have put the county jails at maximum capacity, leaving the Sheriff’s Department no choice but to release prisoners they do not have room for. Released inmates are low-level, non-violent offenders. “The truth of the matter is, this is another shifting of the burden from the state to the local government without the resources to back it up,” said Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit.

Regardless, the idea of releasing prisoners before they’ve served their complete sentence worries desert locals. “It scares me to death,” said Palm Desert resident Michelle O’Donnell. “I’ve noticed in the 20 years I’ve lived here in the valley, the crime rate has increased and I believe they’re letting them out without serving a full term, and it’s very frightening.”

Other residents believe the new policy is a poor solution for the overcrowding problem. “In my opinion, if you do the crime, you should do the time,” said Palm Desert resident Sonia Hyde. “All of the time. Then you’ve paid your debt to society, then come back out, I don’t like the overcrowding situation.”

One solution is to build more beds for inmates, but under a federal court order, the county may not add beds until they expand their facilities. “The potential is–if we can get some state money to build more jail beds, I believe that Indio’s the first on the priority list for construction, and I believe that’s a whole another discussion that’s related to this, but you’ve got to move forward,” said Supervisor Benoit.

In the meantime, the sheriff’s department faces a tough task. “Obviously we’ll do best we can to make sure this is the least dangerous that’s allowed to be released on an ankle bracelet, and behind bars, but those are tough decisions– and we’re going to be making them everyday,” said Benoit.