Budget cutbacks reduce oversight of criminals

There is definitely something wrong here, the plan is, to not follow court orders (monitor folks most likely to recidivate), but continue to monitor those least likely to recidivate (sex offenders on the registry). Sounds like a great plan for party time, do the cushy job and not the hard one. And this does not affect public safety? Lord help us!

3-3-2012 Florida:

CLEARWATER -- Cost-saving measures by the Florida Department of Corrections have ended surprise home visits by probation officers to thousands of violent criminals and drug offenders who are under court-ordered supervision.

"Public safety has not been compromised here," said agency spokeswoman Ann Howard.

But a number of probation officers complain privately that guidelines effective this week will put the public at risk because some offenders won't have to worry about surprise checks on their behavior.

Department of Corrections managers won't reveal details of the plan, saying only that sex offenders and those under house arrest will see the same level of monitoring as before.

"We're not going to discuss the number of face-to-face meetings we're going to make out there," Howard said.

The Department of Corrections expects to save about $400,000 through the moves, from a prison budget that's $79 million in the red.

State Sen. Mike Fasano said he understands trying to make ends meet in a difficult budget year and blames the deficit on state lawmakers who set aside $200 million in a trust fund for a prison privatization plan that failed to materialize this year.

"The Department of Corrections didn't have available to them those dollars that were put aside for privatization," said Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican.

He said it's not clear whether the fund will be unlocked.

Meanwhile, Department of Corrections managers insist they're doing the best they can to make ends meet — even if that means cutting corners with supervised offenders.

"Probationers, all of them, will continue to be monitored," said Howard. "We're just going to do that in different ways."

A number of probation officers privately say the types of offenders who won't have to worry about a knock on the door now include convicted killers such as Jason Harless, who as a teenager in 1988 shot to death one educator and wounded two others at Pinellas Park High School.

The list also includes Anthony Koubek, who strangled his girlfriend in Illinois in 1994 and came to Florida to serve probation after getting out of prison.

Both men are under state supervision in Pasco County.

The probation officers say they have been threatened with termination if they speak publicly about the cutbacks in contact visits. Howard confirmed that, saying there's a security risk in revealing details about the cuts.

Still, she said, "public safety has not been compromised here."

Nick Johnson is on the verge of completing his state probation for a drug offense. He said when word gets around that probation officers are no longer making some house calls, some offenders will misbehave.

"It's just going to give more people time to play around when they should be at home," Johnson said. "The old saying — when the cat's away, the mice will play." ..Source.. by MARK DOUGLAS