State begins releasing prisoners

The state began reducing its prison population by 6,500 inmates Monday as part of a new cost-saving effort that also includes removing supervision for more than 7,700 parolees in Los Angeles County alone. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The state legislation that was passed last year amid the California budget crisis has alarmed law enforcement officials and victims-rights groups, who warned it would jeopardize public safety and reverse a years-long trend of declining crime rates.

Some law enforcement officials expressed particular concern about a provision that will reclassify 7,720 county parolees from supervised to nonsupervised status - allowing gang members to rejoin gangs and parolees to move wherever they want. Los Angeles County has about 34,000 parolees overall.