By Beatriz Valenzuela
Press-Telegram
SACRAMENTO — Despite being blamed by some members of law enforcement for a recent uptick in crime in some counties, there is no connection between California’s Prison Realignment and increased criminal activity, according to a report released Wednesday.
The Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice report found little evidence of there being more crime due to realignment based on random crime trends in counties since the implementation of the law.
For example, Los Angeles County, which has one of the highest percentage of realigned offenders, has continued to see a steady drop in total crime, including an 11 percent decrease in violent crime.
This lack of a clear pattern of crime shows it’s still too soon to draw any conclusion when it comes to the relationship between realignment and crime, according to a Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice news release.
“We are pleased that CJCJ took an impartial look at the data and found no causal relationship between crime and realignment...,” said Jeffrey Callison, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Full story: No link between California’s Prison Realignment and increased crime, study says