County Budget Cuts May Impact Sex Offender Monitoring

5-10-2010 California:

SAN DIEGO -- The budget axe is about to swing in San Diego County and there are new concerns about the county's probation department and its supervision of high-risk sexual offenders.

The San Diego County Probation Department is under close scrutiny now, with many wondering about the monitoring of sexual predators and if the new county budget might mean less supervision.

Overseeing the probation department has become a hot-button issue because of sex offender John Gardner, who is now days away from being sentenced to prison for life without parole or appeal for the murders of teenagers Amber Dubois and Chelsea King.

Gardner was a registered sex offender but no longer on parole when he killed them.

There is legislation under consideration in Sacramento to crack down on sexually violent predators, including talk of more prison time and lifetime supervision.

With the county's budget now on the agenda, probation officers are worried that an already heavy workload could get worse.

"You have to go out and see offenders constantly to keep on top of them," said Ernie Susi of the Probation Officers Association.

County Probation's Enhanced Sex Offender Unit has 10 officers currently assigned to supervise 480 sex offenders. Of that number, 200 of those are high-risk, and six officers handle that group. The goal is to see each one twice a month.

The suggested budget doesn't cut any of those officers, but it would trim support staff.

"Now they're gonna be spending more time in offices doing casework, doing the reports, filing forms where we had secretaries [and] clerical staff helping out," said Susi.

Chief Probation Officer Mack Jenkins told 10News, "As a result of budget cuts, the Probation Department has proposed cuts that include a reduction in support staff. However, community safety has and will remain our number one priority. The highest risk offenders will continue to receive the highest level of supervision."

San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob said nothing is more important than public safety and protecting children.

"I'll be looking at entire budget, particularly the public safety aspect of that, to make sure we're not losing ground. But again, this is a very, very tough year we're in, once again," said Jacob.

The county has a $5 billion budget and revenues are down dramatically but Jacob told 10News more needs to be done.

"There must be some money somewhere to make sure we're doing the job of protecting our kids," said Jacob.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will begin reviewing the proposed budget on Tuesday. ..Source.. 10News.com