The new policy dictates three actions by law enforcement.
1.In lieu of assigning money bail, those arrested will either be cited and released by officers at the scene or booked and released, where suspects will be taken to a police station and released on their own recognizance and given a citation for a future court date.
2.In certain cases, an on-call magistrate will determine the release terms and conditions for anyone arrested for certain crimes that pose a risk to the public.
3.Crimes that qualify for a citation or booking and release include assault, assaulting a member of the armed forces, battery on a school employee, vandalism of $400 or more and petty theft with a prior conviction.
A controversial zero-bail policy is now in effect in Los Angeles County, ending the years-long standard of setting cash bail amounts for defendants commensurate with the severity of the crime they are accused of committing — a process critics say favors the rich while doing little to protect public safety.
The new policy eliminates the existing cash bail system for all but the most serious of crimes.
It ushers in a major change in how the court system deals with people who are arrested and how long they stay in custody. The zero-bail will apply to misdemeanors and specific non-violent felonies.
“This change just applies to a tiny segment of the pretrial system,” says Jeff Stein from Civil Rights Corps.
“It’s just about that window between when a person is arrested and when they see a judge in LA. That can last up to five days.”
Law enforcement officials and some residents are concerned about how the new policy will impact crime.
“Our communities have not been shy about telling us how nervous they are about this change,” County Sheriff Robert Luna told the Board of Supervisors last week, saying crime victims who see offenders immediately released from custody are left with little confidence in the criminal justice system. He said he understands the need to respect constitutional rights of arrestees, but said zero-bail can demoralize deputies and police officers who work hard to make arrests, only to “watch the offender walk away with a citation as the victim looks on in disbelief. ”
But Supervisor Holly Mitchell said the zero-bail system taking effect Sunday does not mean criminals are escaping punishment for their offenses. “It’s really dangerous for us to conflate bail with accountability,” Mitchell said, adding later: “Bail means I have the resources to pay my way out of jail.”
The zero-bail system, officially dubbed by the Los Angeles Superior Court as Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols, or PARP, largely eliminates the existing cash bail system for all but the most serious of crimes. Most arrested people on suspicion of non-violent or non-serious offenses will either be cited and released in the field or booked and released at a police or sheriff’s station with orders to appear in court on a specific date for arraignment once they are actually charged with a crime.
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