Computerized parolee assessment protested

The union representing 9,800 Los Angeles police officers is protesting a state corrections department plan to expand its computer-based risk assessment of prison parolees.

In a May 5 letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Los Angeles Police Protective League said it had “deep concerns” about the Parole Violation Decision Making Instrument, a tool being used at selected state parole offices to classify and manage parolees.

Officials with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have touted their computer risk-assessment tool as a way to better identify lower-risk offenders, whom parole agents would spend less time monitoring and who might be eligible for targeted programs rather than being put back behind bars.

Last month, after the governor ordered massive budget cuts, state corrections officials proposed reducing the number of ex-convicts on parole by more than 25% and allowing prison inmates to shorten their sentences by completing rehabilitation programs.

Parolees monitored by the state would be reduced by more than 30,000, from the current 114,000. Sex offenders, inmates convicted of crimes classified as violent or serious, and others judged to be high-risk would continue to be monitored on parole.

The program is currently being administered by the state corrections department in four parole offices. Plans call for expanding its use to all 182 offices by the end of next year.

Scott Kernan, head of operations for the parole department, defended the system, saying it takes a burden off already overworked parole agents, who could then focus their attention on the most high-risk offenders.

“It’s intended to create consistent decisions across the state,” Kernan said, noting that it would supplement, not supplant, parole agents.

But police union President Paul M. Weber wrote that he had reservations.

“We are very disturbed that the public safety of Los Angeles residents is now being gamed by bureaucrats in Sacramento, determined to ‘save money’ by implementing a program to block return of parolees to prison before the Legislature has approved this approach,” Weber said in his letter.

Some are not convinced that the system has complete criminal history information to identify between low- and high-risk offenders.

“Past violence is the best predictor of future violence. To ignore that is to place the community at greater risk,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck.

The debate comes after a parolee killed four Oakland police officers in March.

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andrew.blankstein@latimes.com