Bail Reduction Seen As Possible Solution For LASD
Sheriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles County is in talks with court officials to determine whether reducing bail for nonviolent offenders would cut jail overcrowding at a time when he’s considering closing down the Men’s Central Jail for budget reasons.
Sheriff’s Spokesman Steve Whitmore said Baca is examining the current bail schedule for nonviolent offenders and wants to discuss with judges the prospects for reducing some of types of bail. Baca does not have the power to change the bail schedule, which would require the support of judges as well as prosecutors and public defenders. Whitmore said that if more offenders could afford bail, fewer of them would be incarcerated at the jails, allowing the sheriff to house violent offenders longer. The LA Times reports:
Baca said closing the downtown Los Angeles jail, which would greatly reduce the capacity of the county jail system and lead to more early releases of inmates, might be necessary to bridge what he estimates will be a $72-million gap in his budget. But he was criticized today by some county officials. County officials said they have requested that he draft preliminary plans to reduce his $2.5 billion budget by [just] $62 million …
Some supervisors suggested areas ripe for trimming. “If the sheriff can’t find the savings, we’re willing to help him,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, noting that the department’s administration budget has increased by 151% over the last 10 years and the patrol budget has increased by 115% over the same period. “The amount of overtime the sheriff spends is a scandal,” Yaroslavsky added. “We’ll be releasing numbers on that in the coming days.”