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Communities Worry As Calif. Realigns Prison System

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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.

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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.