Is it Too Late to Save 3 Strikes

As I write this on April 6, I am reminded of the “Newhall Incident” from this date in 1970. Four Highway Patrol Officers, Walt Frago, Roger Gore, George Alleyn and James Pence were all murdered by two men recently released from prison (one was actually on parole and both were violent career criminals). Fast forward to more recent events; Whittier Officer Keith Boyer was murdered by a known gang member who had been released from jail because of AB 109 (prison realignment). This murderer had violated his parole on numerous occasions and should have been in prison. Sergeant Steve Owen of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was murdered by a parolee, actually he was executed, responding to a call for service. Palm Springs Officers Lesley Zerebny and Jose “Gil” Vega were murdered by a parolee responding to a call at his residence.

There is a painful similarity in all of these instances separated as they are by four decades. All of these criminals should have been in prison at the time of their heinous acts. It is astonishing to me how quickly we forget the lessons learned from our not too distant past. The “Three Strikes Law” was implemented because Californians were tired of being victimized by dirtbags who belonged in prison. Californians were tired of the revolving door of victimization by the same criminals over and over again. We acted to make ourselves safer by putting the most violent, the most dangerous and yes, the most repetitive criminals in prison. The result? Violent crime and in fact all crime, fell and fell dramatically. We actually became safer by putting criminals in prison and not letting them out.

AB 109, the so-called “Prison Realignment” law has done a great deal to make us less safe. Criminals who should be in State Prison are instead placed in local jails. The State of California is pawning off their failure to keep up the prison infrastructure onto the local level by making it easier for convicted felons to be placed on unsupervised release, they do not need to check in, they end up on the street to commit more crime. Then along came Proposition 47, the horribly named Safe Schools and Safe Neighborhoods Act passed by voters, many of whom I am convinced never read the details. This beauty turned felonies into misdemeanors and further decriminalized criminal activity. The result of this law has been the release of violent felons who had their crimes reduced from felonies to misdemeanors. They are back on the street to commit more crime with the full knowledge they would not be going to prison and in many cases would be getting a ticket. Fewer arrests, more crime, less safe. Proposition 57 promises yet more released violent felons from State Prison and more tragedy. If it’s predictable it’s preventable. Our lawmakers need to see the flaw in this law and use what little common sense they possess and fix the Penal Code to reflect the fact that raping an unconscious person is an act of violence. Assaulting a Peace Officer resulting in injury is an act of violence. There are many more crimes needing reclassification and our State Legislators need to fix this before it’s too late.

As for Law Enforcement, we need to reclaim our rightful place as public safety policy experts. There is one constant in this world more sure than the sun coming up in the morning; if you create a vacuum in public policy by inaction, that vacuum will be filled by some politician. The result could very well be an inexorable rise in crime and an increasing cost for public safety.