For the last three days, a quiet shift of responsibilities has been under way, as the state transferred thousands of inmates and parolees to local government jurisdictions. While most often the sheriff’s office the plays the primary role in supervising inmates and violators, some counties now face enormous strains on personnel. As a result, other departments are also being called upon for assistance to help staff the new responsibilities.

In Los Angeles, that means that 150 patrol officers will be taken off the streets in a move that Police Chief Charlie Beck says could extend response times to 9-1-1 calls.

By the end of this year, the Los Angeles PD and other agencies will oversee more than 4,000 offenders, and by the time the plan is fully transitioned, they will be responsible for 55,000.

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles Police Department plans to remove 150 officers from patrol or other assignments in order to deal with the state’s prison realignment plan, a move that Chief Charlie Beck said will slow police response times to 911 calls.

Beck and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa criticized the state’s controversial attempt to relieve severe overcrowding in its prisons for not providing adequate funding to the city and warned that the move threatens to reverse the falling crime rates L.A. has experienced in the last decade.

Read the full article here.