Probation: Wrong Place to Cut

Seventy-six thousand convicted criminals are on probation in Los Angeles County. Close surveillance keeps many of them from committing new crimes because they are afraid of going to jail, but many may soon be able to stop looking over their shoulders. The proposed county budget would eliminate the special supervision of narcotics offenders and child molesters. The budget would also reduce supervision of most adult convicts.

Today about 10,000 drug offenders are assigned to probation officers with small caseloads. They must submit to a surprise drug test once every two months, enter counseling and not associate with users. The new budget would create automated caseloads of 2,000 for a team that would include only one probation officer, and there would be no testing. The certainty of tests alone is a powerful discipline that must not be removed.

Terms of probation for most child molesters and child abusers forbid associating with children except under supervision. With small caseloads, they can be monitored by probation officers who have the time to make monthly home visits. A proposed load of 2,000 even for a team equipped with a computer would make strict supervision impossible.

Violent offenders also require close surveillance. County probation officials expect to supervise 47,000 high-risk offenders next year, but the proposed budget would allow close supervision of only 10,000 cases. That reduction would jeopardize public safety.

Because of the proposed budget cuts, the Probation Department would eliminate a successful restitution program nicknamed “Big Mac.” Currently, four probation officers work reduced caseloads to concentrate on collecting money for victims who have lost $8,000 or more. They collected $1.5 million last year, more than double the amount collected in the previous year. The valuable program merits expansion.

Probation saves money by creating prisons without walls. Close, meaningful supervision, a sound alternative to overcrowded jails, keeps some unsophisticated offenders from turning hard-core and some hard-core criminals from breaking the law again and again.

The Los Angeles County Probation Department supervises 60,000 adults and 15,000 juveniles. Already understaffed and overburdened, the department needs $18 million more than is budgeted just to stay even. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors must find the money somewhere. Better to have offenders afraid to stray from the straight and narrow than to transfer that fear to the public.