Inmates Living Next Door

As California’s inmate population rises, citizens in California tend to grow more and more comfortable with the rate of crime, no matter what the current percentage is. Unfortunately, Californians should not rest easy, because a California Policy Research Center brief states that the population seems “unaware that 90% of those who enter prisons eventually return to the community – most in less than two years.” Almost as quick as California is locking them in penitentiaries, prisoners are being released into our communities. An increasing prison population may not mean added safety for our state, because those inmates eventually return to our communities, this time with years of prison incarceration added to their criminal belts.

Between 1995 and 2000, the population of released prison inmates on parole quadrupled. During that same time, the percentage of inmates paroled (7.8%) began to increase even more rapidly than the rate at which California’s prison populations are increasing (4.8%). Even though media reports have people feeling comforted with the increase in the prison population, the media has failed to cover both spectrums of the issue. We are not incarcerating as many criminals as we are releasing.

Determinate sentencing drastically changed the way prisoners are released. At one time, prisoners were subject to boards before being released. The inmate had to prove they were rehabilitated and had earned their release. Determinate sentences have changed our procedures, as sentences are now equipped with fixed terms and automatic parole dates. This ultimately led to the drastic increase in California’s parolee population, meaning more criminals are being released into our communities now than ever before.