COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:

Like food and shelter, being safe from crime is a basic necessity. All the opportunity, happiness and prosperity in the world is meaningless if you can’t take a walk in your neighborhood or feel safe at home.

Public safety has always been my top priority in Sacramento.

But under a dangerous proposal by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to create a new category of parole called “summary parole,” our safety could be at risk. Felons convicted of any number of serious crimes would no longer be supervised by law enforcement while they are out on parole.

An estimated 18,500 parolees who served time for such crimes as attacking public safety officers while on duty, recruiting gang members, committing auto theft or identity theft would go free. We would have no idea where they are or if they are living up to the conditions of their parole, such as maintaining a job and staying off drugs.

As a husband and father, I am troubled by the fact that those convicted of certain types of sex offenses and stalking, and those guilty of felony statutory rape will be allowed to slip through the cracks. Despite what some state bureaucrats may say, many are serious felons who pose a great risk to our community.

Parolees convicted of serious crimes should not get off so easy in response to the state’s budget problems. They should be required to complete their parole terms under the close supervision of law enforcement, including receiving the therapy and counseling they need.

Allowing parolees to go free without any obligation to continue treatment or live up to their parole requirements sends a conflicting message. Statistics have shown that many will return to crime if they have not been fully rehabilitated.

In addition to greatly reducing parole, some Sacramento politicians propose releasing 22,000 dangerous felons, including burglars, identity thieves and embezzlers, onto California streets in the name of necessary budget cuts. We must keep in mind that one of our top priorities is to keep our communities safe and free of any danger.

Instead of making 100% cuts in a vast array of duplicative or obsolete state programs, some propose throwing the prison doors open and shortening parole. But they fail to consider the question, “Why has the average annual cost of housing a prisoner climbed from $32,000 to $42,000 during the four-plus years of this administration, while Florida spends $19,000 and even the federal prison system costs just $25,000?”

So who do these Sacramento politicians think they are kidding? Californians have given them an entire finance department to prepare serious budget reforms, and yet we’re expected to believe that preposterous threats to release thousands of dangerous felons and to nearly eliminate their parole are the only solution to the state’s runaway spending.

Pork projects or new programs are no substitute for the safety of our loved ones. It’s time for the Legislature to work across party lines to find more realistic ways to trim the budget.

ASSEMBLYMAN VAN TRAN represents the 68th Assembly District in the California Legislature.