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Communities Worry As Calif. Realigns Prison System

DAVID GREENE, Host:

NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

CARRIE KAHN: L.A.'s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he's worried about the public's safety. The state is sending thousands of parolees here but no extra money to deal with them.

ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA: The idea that there is not a penny for this city or the other cities makes no sense.

KAHN: LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says supervising that many parolees will take at least 150 of his officers.

CHARLIE BECK: Those 150 officers are going to come right out of the streets of Los Angeles. So 9-1-1 calls will take longer to answer, reports will take longer to write and our system will suffer.

KAHN: But the state says L.A. County was given $112 million and needs to better distribute those funds. California Prison head Matt Cate says local officials should focus on results rather than rhetoric.

MATT CATE: Elected officials are going to try to inoculate themselves from anything that could possibly go wrong in any new program.

KAHN: Carrie Kahn, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Carrie Kahn is NPR's International Correspondent based in Mexico City, Mexico. She covers Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Kahn's reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning news programs including All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and on NPR.org.