It's really a shame that no one can figure out how to do things correctly in this world. People who do drugs, commit crimes, and make the world a terrible place to live in should be punished for what they did. But at the same time, they need to be educated so they do not make the same mistake over and over again. By letting parolees out early without any rules/restrictions will obviously cause more problems. So it baffles me that instead of improving the system and putting MORE restrictions on parolees that are let out early, they REMOVE all restrictions and let them roam around free like the rest of us normal people. I know that the top priority is not to keep criminals in bars and away from the streets.. but it should be somewhere near the top of the TO DO list.

Also, MVPD does a great job in keeping our city safe.. but there is only so much they can do when they're being told NOT to punish these criminals. It's really sad..

That's one good reason why programs like Neighborhood Watch are going to become increasingly important, as citizens must take it upon themselves to look out for one another, if these guys are back on the street.

~Jordan "The Eye" Moller,
NW Block Captain, the View Street 400 Watch

in my experience, the mountain view police do not provide counseling or make sure parolees have a support system, but they do harass parolees for minor infractions. I have witnessed this both personally and professionally, and it's not confined to local police. As long as we as a society fail to get at the root problem that people become criminals, we will not solve this issue. It is ridiculous to have people "check in" with their parole officers, whose job it is to send the parolees back to jail. We need to stop rewarding parole officers who do that. The object is to keep these people OUT of jail for small offenses.

"Corrections", that is what our jail/prison system is called.
Have you ever met anyone that got "corrected" after doing time?
I am not excusing bad/illegal behavior but:
I don't understand how we think that people will be rehabilitated after living in an environment where there is no help at all. A few freinds went in fine and came out career criminals and thats not right.
I experienced San Jose and Elmwood for a few weeks and it was crazy.
There is no help or solutions for anyone. I had to hang with the white folks. The whole operation is to make money.
Huge racial divide. No real food. No rest. Just watch your back.
You can’t expect anyone to be a productive citizen after being incarcerated, NO Way.

"Mountain View's gangs are not prison gangs," Wylie said. "They may have ties to them but they're not actually prison gangs."

Interesting take, but I think she doesn't know the truth. Street gangs are prison gangs, the difference is the ones on the street haven't been caught or convicted yet. Prison is a great place to educate gang members.

Let's just hope they let out those that did no harm to individuals. Maybe they will release those convicted and doing time for minor drug crimes, or people convicted of stealing a candy bar and had it count as their 3rd strike.

70 + Percent of all parolees either violate parole OR re-offend (NEW CRIMES) within two years of release. Commonly know fact.

That means that if (rounding off the number) 7,000 are release, that within two years there will be 4,900 NEW CRIMES,, NEW VICTIMS, NEW DAMAGE to society. EGADS.. Toss out every legislator who voted for this.

If Sheriff Joe (Maricopa County, Phoenis) can house inmates in the desert, have them wear pick, and feed them MRE surplus from the Military, don't tell us that Calif. can't put these guys in a fenced enclosure in the Central Valley to complete their sentences. As Sheriff Joe sez: "I ya don't like it, DON'T come back. That's "Rehabilitation"

D.T.N.

>70 + Percent of all parolees either violate parole OR re-offend
>(NEW CRIMES) within two years of release. Commonly know fact.

If not drinking, at all, is a condition of parole, then the above category basically covers everything from "having a beer" to "murder". In other words, it's a useless categorization, of the type usually used to make crime figures seem higher than they are.

California has spent far too much money sending parolees back to prison for minor violations of parole. MVPD can't arrest a parolee for drinking? Good! Maybe MVPD will now spend their time going after parolees who commit real crimes.