Brown criticizes Calif. parole system

OAKLAND, Calif., March 24 (UPI) -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown says some convicted criminals released on parole aren't being supervised and wind up committing violent crimes.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday there are more than 16,725 people in California wanted on various parole violations. Among them was Lovelle Mixon, who killed four Oakland, Calif., police officers Saturday after a traffic stop and then was killed himself.

"I think that's one of the darker secrets of the whole prison industry, that the ... people who are let out are not well-supervised in many cases, although not all," Brown said. "The supervision isn't there. The surveillance isn't there. The job training and preparation is not there."

Of the roughly 122,000 parolees in California, about 12 percent have violated the terms of their parole and are considered wanted by police.

The Times noted that the parole officer handling Mixon's case was responsible for 70 parolees, 18 of whom were classified as high-risk. Brown, a former mayor of Oakland, said police there spend much time looking for wanted parolees.

"When I was mayor, there was a third of the parolees, from the moment they get to Oakland, they're on the run," he said. "That then burdens the police with having to chase them as well as doing their other work."

Mixon had served a six-year state prison sentence for assault with a firearm. He was also a suspect in a murder in Alameda County, but prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge him in the case, the Times noted.