CRIME POLICY EASED

Jail Overcrowding Prompts Changes

In a drastic new policy that will return hundreds more thieves, drug
dealers and burglars to the streets, the San Bernardino County
Sheriff's Department has stopped booking even more nonviolent
criminals into county jails.

The new procedures were set in place in the last week by Sheriff Gary
Penrod as a temporary solution to ease overcrowding at the county's
three detention centers.

This means drug dealers arrested with as much as 24 pounds of illegal
narcotics could be set free as long as they promised to appear in court.

Commercial burglars, identity thieves and sex offenders who fail to
register their whereabouts with police pursuant to Megan's Law also
will be booked and released.

"As you well know, I am committed to keeping our communities as safe
as possible, and it is deeply troubling to have to make these
changes," Penrod wrote in a memo dated Oct. 19 announcing the change.
"The Board of Supervisors and I are looking for ways to increase our
jail bed space numbers; however, our overcrowding has become so
critical I must take steps to reduce the jail population or face
potential action from the court."

As part of the new policy, county jails will no longer accept most
arrestees booked solely on misdemeanor charges.

The jails also will turn away all suspects arrested on nonviolent
felony charges as long as their bail is less than $500,000.

Jail workers will not consider whether arrestees have a history of
failing to appear in court, or a home to go to, before releasing them,
according to Penrod's memo.

On any given day, the county's three adult jails in Rancho Cucamonga,
San Bernardino and Glen Helen hover near capacity. Rancho Cucamonga
holds about 3,000 inmates, San Bernardino holds about 1,000 and Glen
Helen houses about 750.

Penrod has struggled for more than a year to house all the inmates
sent to him by local police departments without violating a 1998 court
settlement in which the county agreed to ease crowding.

The sheriff has granted early release to inmates since at least July
2004, and the new policy is an expansion of those efforts.

The previous cutoff was for nonviolent offenders with bail of less
than $150,000, and Penrod estimated then he was prematurely releasing
about 700 people per month.

The new cutoff of $500,000 will make far more arrestees eligible for
release.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Robin Haynal would not speculate Tuesday on how
many more arrestees could be released under the new policy. She
stressed that the policy is only temporary and said it applies only to
fresh arrests. Inmates already in jail will not be let go, she said.

She also said jail staff will evaluate each arrestee before granting a
release to guarantee as much as possible that dangerous and violent
criminals aren't freed.

"We're doing what we have to do at this point," Haynal said. "The
sheriff is committed to keeping the community safe. That's his
priority. But we have to deal with the overcrowding problem."

Several law enforcement officials on Tuesday said they are sympathetic
to the sheriff's predicament, but concerned the release of criminals
puts the public at risk.

"By putting these felons back on the street, it's reasonable to assume
the crime rate will increase," Assistant District Attorney Mike Risley
said.

Sgt. William Megenney of the Fontana Police Department said the
changes may discourage officers on the streets from arresting people
with outstanding warrants.

"These people aren't gong to show up to court; they aren't going to do
what they are supposed to be doing," Megenney said. "It's a vicious
circle between the courts and law enforcement."

Local bail agents, meanwhile, predicted the changes will cripple
them.

Arrestees with mid-range bail are the bread and butter of the bail
bond industry, said Patti Newcombe, president of the Inland Empire
Bail Agents Association. Now all that business will be gone, she said,
at the expense of bondsmen and the general public.

"This is absurd. We should all just go on vacation," Newcombe said.
"We make sure people show up to court. If they don't show, we pick
them up at no cost to the taxpayers. Taxpayers shouldn't be paying for
cops on the street to arrest people only to let them right back out."

San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert said the county has taken
steps to open new jails.

A 700-bed facility is set to open in Adelanto in January, he said. And
the county has been saving money to build a jail in the High Desert
comparable to the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

"But those things take many years to put together," he said.