Top law enforcement officials are concerned that inmates released under the state's new law requiring low-level criminal offenders to be released from state to county control could increase San Bernardino County's already high gang population.
Assembly Bill 109 - also known as prison realignment - is too new for officials to know whether it will result in a gang influx.
The county's top prosecutor, District Attorney Michael A. Ramos, already has compared realignment and a mandate to release thousands of prisoners to an impending train wreck.
And it's an issue police are thinking about, especially since an FBI report released last week showed San Bernardino County has a population of 40,558 gang members, the third-largest gang population in the nation behind Los Angeles County (68,208) and Cook County, Ill., (60,125) which includes Chicago.
"This gang statistics report screams of issues that are going to be exacerbated by the realignment," said Fontana Police Chief Rod Jones.
The state's massive inmate realignment program aims to cut costs by releasing supervision of offenders to counties, but it comes amid concerns that it will also put more low-level offenders on the streets sooner than they would be under current rules. Offenders are registered in rehabilitation programs outside of jails or put under post-release supervision.
So far, San Bernardino County has had a 90 percent compliance rate among the 151 inmates who reported to probation officials since Assembly Bill 109 went into effect Oct. 1, probation officials said.
And while the state has been quick to stress that public safety will not be put at risk, top cops in cities throughout the region say there are still a lot of unknowns.
San Bernardino Police Chief Robert Handy, who was sworn in as chief this month, is not just concerned about more gang members coming back to the city. There could be criminals currently locked up for minor offenses who have committed far worse crimes in the past, he said.
Among issues law enforcement is grappling with is that state corrections officials classify gang members differently than local police and sheriff's agencies. That, and the fact the inmate realignment law is so new, leaves the county Probation Department unable to determine how many of the 6,500 inmates expected to be released are gang members.
"We don't know what we're getting," Handy said.
Redlands has 783 documented gang members, but Police Chief Mark Garcia said it's possible that more might come to Redlands under the program.
"I think there's always a concern that some may migrate to Redlands," he said. "If so, we will incorporate plans to keep the city safe."
County officials say law enforcement agencies have tools in place to go after members of the 1,100 criminal street gangs in the county if they commit more crimes.
A dozen gang injunctions have been established around the county, allowing law enforcement to arrest gang members if they congregate in certain areas. Injunctions are in place in Rialto, Colton, San Bernardino and Victorville.
Growing numbers of gangs in the area have also prompted large law enforcement sweeps, like one earlier this month in the Chino Hills area. Deputies arrested 41 people, six of whom were documented gang members.
Law enforcement agencies also have plans in place to work closely with county probation officers and have been looking at ways to get community groups involved.
Michelle Scray, chief probation officer for the county Probation Department, said the FBI's gang numbers concern her. But she and other police chiefs say the high number is primarily due to better documentation.
"The gang members are here. They're living in our communities. Some of them on probation, some are on parole, some are getting out of prison, some are under no supervision and are facing no charges," she said.
In some cases, the nature of their criminal activity is changing, however, and becoming more sophisticated, police and the FBI said.
And inmate realignment, Fontana's Chief Jones said, doesn't make weeding it out any easier.
"We are already seeing our criminals going toward white-collar crimes because of realignment," Jones said. "They probably know it better than we do."
Jones said that while a criminal may have gone for the quick $100 liquor store robbery in the past, he or she will opt to steal someone's identity to make $5,000 now. Criminals know the crime has a higher profit and results in less jail time. Because white-collar crime is non-violent, violators could become candidates for early release under the realignment program.
Still, if there's an upside to inmate realignment it's forcing law enforcement to share resources.
Under realignment, police now have access to more background information on an inmate released to a community, said Ontario Police Chief Eric Hopley, adding that 18 people, designated as post-release community supervision inmates, have come to Ontario under realignment so far.
Communication, collaboration and the sharing of ideas by law enforcement is what will help make the program work, says Hopley, who is president of the San Bernardino County Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association.
"We know this is occurring, we have no choice, so we're going to be proactive about it and be on the front end and not the back end," Hopley said.
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