Budget cuts are setting convicts free

He says that "get tough on crime" policies and politicians in recent years have emphasized rhetoric over funding. The war on drugs, the deinstitutionalization of mental-health system, "three strikes you're out" laws have all increased the numbers in both jails and prisons.

"We have continued to pass new laws with new sentences but have not expanded the system to keep up with the public's dictate. You can't just continue to pour inmates in the front door without them flowing out the back," says Mr. Jungel.

According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 650,000 are incarcerated in jails every day - 1 in 31 adults is in jail or prison, or on parole or probation - and 10 million are admitted each year. And overcrowding in state prisons backs up into local jails.

But the early release of nonviolent criminals concerns some analysts. LAPD police chief William Bratton, who has won national praise as head of three big-city police departments (Boston, New York, Los Angeles) has long pushed his "broken windows" strategy of law enforcement which emphasizes the punishment of the lesser crimes that lead to a life in greater crime.

"There has to be the certainty of some punishment in jail," says John Jones, president of the Virginia Sheriff's Association. "If we allow criminals a couple of passes on early crimes, it creates repeat offenders and those that try bigger crimes down the line."

Budget cutbacks not only threaten public safety but also the safety and morale of law enforcers and jail personnel who must make do with less - and then watch prisoners whom they have spent their careers locking up walk free early.

"We need to think about jailers and deputy sheriffs who are locked up for 8 hours a day guarding these prisoners in jammed cells without enough beds, showers and other amenities," says Mr. Jones. Virginia currently allots $24,000 annually for its deputy sheriffs. "That qualifies them for food stamps ... it's shameful," says Jones.

Jones, Jungel, Baca, and others are currently on the public stump for more funding from both state and federal governments. Baca is backing a half-cent sales tax in a November initiative that would raise $500 million to be split three ways between sheriffs, LAPD, and other California cities and towns. He also backing a controversial initiative that would expand gambling across the state while providing law enforcement added revenues.

One of their top priorities, they say, is building public awareness. Better understanding of the issues by the public could win more funding.

"The early releases are but a grain of sand in an enormous and still growing machine that have been fueled by politicians who are creating laws and policies that impact a system they know nothing about," says Steve Ingley, president of the American Jails Association. "Public ignorance, money, politicians, territory, fear, the six o'clock news, and Hollywood have contributed to a criminal-justice system that ... is undercapitalized, overutilized, understaffed and ill equipped."

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