The recent passage of Proposition 47, which downgrades many theft and drug-possession crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, could shift a workload of as much as 40,000 cases from the county District Attorney’s office to city attorneys, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday.
The police department implemented the voter-approved change immediately after the Nov. 4 election, the impact of which “has yet to be told,” Beck told the Police Commission.
“We are monitoring not only crime rates closely, but also the number of arrests and types of prosecution,” the chief said.
Beck said he has had “lengthy meetings” with City Attorney Mike Feuer and District Attorney Jackie Lacey in the past week “about what this means to the criminal justice system.”
“It puts a significantly increased burden on the City Attorney’s Office because while this is a law that covers the whole state of California, L.A. is one of a very few places in the state where the burden will now shift in prosecution.”
The change in who prosecutes such cases is relatively unique to Los Angeles, Beck said. In more than 90 percent of the counties California, the district attorney handles both misdemeanor and felony cases, he said.
Beck agreed with a statement by Commission President Steve Soboroff that the change may not bode well for the city’s crime statistics, but he noted that “you also have to look at the long term impact and see if the intent of the voters on this legislation does free up more room in our state prisons for violent offenders,” when previously beds were being filled by “low-level offenders.”
He added that with Los Angeles being such a large city, these types of crimes were infrequently prosecuted and the more serious charges were used “to get folks into programs.”
The City Council is expected to consider a request by the City Attorney’s Office to hire eight more deputy city attorneys and seven law clerks — at a cost of $510,482 over seven months — to handle the heightened workload.
The City Attorney is expecting an increase in cases by about 17 percent.
Feuer’s request for added staffing is expected to be considered by the City Council’s Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee.
Proposition 47 will require misdemeanor sentences instead of felony sentences for petty theft, receiving stolen property and forging or writing bad checks when the value or amount involved is $950 or less. It would also require misdemeanor sentences instead of felony sentences for certain drug possession offenses.
— City News Service