Perfect storm of crime from shortsighted budget cuts

WHEN the Washington Legislature reduced its commitment to public safety to help balance the budget, it created a "perfect storm" of crime that is about to overtake our state.

Two years ago, three police officers in King County were killed by released offenders who were not being well-supervised. After that tragedy, there was a push in the Legislature to make sure conditionally released felons had more supervision and would face more consequences for their actions.

Part of the landmark prison and supervision reform legislation that passed in 2007 had a clear message to both its citizens and its offenders: We intend to hold people coming out of prison more accountable for their actions. What has changed since then that makes felon accountability no longer a priority?

Based on the changes made to public safety last session, the message now appears to be that community protection is less important because we have a budget problem.

When the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5288 last session, it reduced the amount of time the state Department of Corrections supervises high-risk, violent offenders upon release from prison. Low- and moderate-risk offenders who were previously being supervised have been, in essence, unconditionally released onto the streets. More than 8,000 offenders are now no longer under any supervision.

Since July, DOC has reduced its community corrections division work force by more than 200, including community corrections officers (CCOs) whose job it was to keep tabs on those offenders. These felons are well aware that the agency no longer has any control over them.

CCOs report that many of the low- and moderate-risk offenders previously under supervision are back to using drugs, drinking and returning to their old habits. They know there's nothing CCOs can do about it. It's only a matter of time before many are arrested for committing new crimes.

Now DOC has ordered its officers not to send high-risk offenders who meet certain criteria to jail. Instead, offenders will be assigned "home detention" to put their feet up in their La-Z-Boys and watch television. Some high-risk offenders aren't even checked up on for days. How far can a criminal get in days? That kind of "punishment" is downright laughable.

To a certain extent, you could say the state had been monitoring these conditionally released offenders using a "trust but verify" system, and now the "verify" has been taken away. We're letting these offenders out into the community and trusting — praying, really — they don't violate the conditions of their release or, worse, commit new crimes.

The state Office of Financial Management recently announced the recommendations of its consulting agency to close or reduce capacity in state prisons and juvenile rehabilitation facilities. However, any time the state chooses to reduce the number of prison facilities for a one-time budget savings, while simultaneously releasing offenders from supervision, it is a recipe for an increase in arrests by police.

From both a budget and a public-safety standpoint, it just doesn't make much sense. Not supervising released felons who are let out of prison early, coupled with a reduction in community corrections officers and the closure of state prisons, will result in a perfect storm of crime.

We must now consider how important community supervision is compared with other areas of state responsibility. Should the state hold conditionally released felons accountable for their actions? There are some very important, overarching policy decisions facing us in the coming legislative session.

I believe public safety should be the state's foremost priority. The Legislature must consider other ways to deal with the state's budget problem rather than putting our citizens at risk.