Letters: Prison numbers tell the story

Re “Population of prisons to increase,” Jan. 10

I am not surprised that news of California’s exploding prison population came only days after a report from the Los Angeles 2020 Commission found that, as The Times wrote, “Los Angeles is a city in decline, strangled by traffic, weighed down by poverty and suffering from ‘a crisis of leadership and direction.’”

Los Angeles and its neighboring counties continue to be robust and dependable suppliers of inmates to the state prison population, whose ever-increasing numbers have resulted in $500 million in expansion projects for an already massive prison system.

At least as much money and resources that we commit every year to our criminal justice system should be committed to prevention programs if L.A. is to once again be the city of the future.

Mike Cavalluzzi

Hollywood

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