Funding released to help Burbank monitor parolees
Burbank is slated to receive $90,000 in state funding to help run a police task force monitoring individuals released from prison under the Public Safety Realignment Act, which redirected certain former inmates and parole violators from state to local supervision.
The bill, which went into effect in October 2011, resulted in the release of more than 18,000 former inmates into Los Angeles County in its first two years for post-release community supervision. Currently, Burbank is home to 24 of them, according to a city report.
The regional task force — a team of seven from the Burbank, Glendale and San Fernando police departments, and the Los Angeles County Probation Department — works to monitor the individuals and conduct compliance checks. The task force deals specifically with the three cities that are involved.
The money will fund one police officer in Burbank assigned full time to the task force, which has been in effect for roughly seven months, according to Burbank Police Chief Scott LaChasse.
“This task force has really been an asset for us to offset the impact of prisoners returning to local jurisdictions,” LaChasse said. “It really does help us with dedicated personnel that know who problem individuals are and what their habits are so they can be more closely monitored.”
Also under realignment, individuals convicted of specific nonserious, nonviolent or non-sex-registrant crimes may now be sentenced to county jail or alternative-custody programs instead of state prisons, according to a state report.
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