A California political commentator cautions that new software that aims to release the state's prisoners early will endanger public safety.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department hopes new software created to detect criminals who have a low chance of committing new crimes will help reduce overcrowded prisons. The Los Angeles jail system has been under pressure to release prisoners early because of California's prison realignment program that shifts thousands of low-level offenders to local jails.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the software includes a survey that questions inmates about their past and their current emotional state. Low-risk inmates may be able to serve their sentences outside of jail with electronic monitoring.
But Craig Huey, founder of the California Election Forum, says the safety of California is at risk and justice is being ignored.
"They're not serving their terms, and this software is basically an interesting rationale to try to help filter out who to release early and who not to. I'm a total skeptic," Huey comments. "Software being able to predict human behavior? I don't think that it's going to be something that's going to work. I think that it's endangering the public."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has already screened over 3,000 inmates and could start placing low-risk inmates under house arrest within the next several months.
The LA Times notes that department has been criticized for letting inmates out early, only to see them rearrested for new crimes, including murder.