Photo by Jon Lewis.
A ride-along with Redding police and a tour of the Shasta County Jail simply reinforced what state Sen. Ted Gaines expected when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the Public Safety Realignment Act, the Rocklin Republican told Redding business owners on Tuesday.
“This is a community overrun with crime,” Gaines said at a meeting of the Redding Merchants Crime Watch at the Red Lion Hotel. “We predicted this would happen.”
The legislation, which Gaines opposed, was enacted in 2011 to reduce California’s prison population by diverting certain non-violent offenders to county jails and shifting their post-release supervision to county probation officers instead of parole agents.
As a result, criminals who had been routinely sent to state prison are now taking up already-scarce county jail beds and forcing Sheriff Tom Bosenko and his staff to release even more low-level offenders, often within an hour of their being booked into jail.
Reiterating what was already clear to most of those in attendance, including Redding police Chief Robert Paoletti, Gaines said AB 109 also means there are more criminals on the streets, many of whom are well aware of the jail’s revolving door and law enforcement’s catch-and-release policy.
Gaines said it was time for the state of California, which created the burden, to offer some relief and he announced on Tuesday his intent to introduce legislation to provide county sheriffs the funds needed to incarcerate prisoners in any available jail or facility across the nation.
“I appreciate the proactive-ness of this community,” Gaines said. “Now we need the state to step up and do the right thing.” The legislation, marked as urgent, will need to be passed before the Senate’s final recess on Aug. 31. “It will live or die in August,” Gaines said.
With increased jail space, Gaines said Bosenko, Paoletti and the rest of Shasta County’s law enforcement could go back to a more even-handed carrot-and-stick approach, with rehabilitation and treatment at faith-based organizations like the Good News Rescue Mission serving as the carrot and incarceration serving as the stick.
When asked where the state would find the money needed to transport and house county jail inmates in out-of-state facilities, Gaines said he did not have a funding source identified but noted California’s current surplus and Gov. Brown’s ability to find money “for a bullet train to nowhere.”
Redding businessman Ed Rullman, who formed the Redding Merchants Crime Watch as a forum to help keep business owners apprised of crimes, trends and investigations, noted that Gaines was the first state legislator to express an interest in securing more jail space.
Jon Lewis is a freelance writer living in Redding. He has more than 30 years experience writing for newspapers and magazines. Contact him at jonpaullewis@gmail.com.
