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"The number of dangerous criminals cutting off or tampering with their GPS tracking devices has risen dramatically in California since Gov. Jerry Brown launched his controversial\u00A0prison realignment plan, according to new figures from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.The new numbers show 221 felons tampered with the electronic monitoring devices in the 15 months before realignment.But 482 parolees, or more than double that number, cut off their devices in the 15 months after realignment -- a jump of 118 percent, according to figures released by the CDCR to Sen. Ted Lieu.\"These dangerous parolees have figured out they can cut off their ankle bracelets with little or no consequence,\" Lieu told KCRA 3.No consequence, because as KCRA 3 first reported last November, cutting a GPS device under realignment is just a parole violation, often resulting in offenders spending just a few days in a county jail.On its website, CDCR describes realignment as\u00A0\" the cornerstone of California\u2019s solution for reducing the number of inmates in the state\u2019s 33 prisons to 137.5 percent of design capacity by June 27, 2013, as ordered by the Three-Judge Court and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.\"Under a bill introduced by Lieu, felons who cut off their GPS bracelets would go back to prison.Lieu said that 482 violators actually may be a higher number, based on a conversation he had Monday with the Department of Corrections.\"We believe the numbers are even worse, because these are just the folks that, they are able to re-arrest after they've cut off their bracelets,\" he said. \"There's another larger group of folks that have cut off their bracelets that no one has found.\"Lieu's bill to make GPS tampering a felony will be the subject of state hearings next month.Late Monday, CDCR told KCRA 3 the figures provided to Sen. Lieu don't paint the whole picture, but present just part of the data.The larger numbers, according to CDCR, reveal not only those parolees who cut off their bracelets, but also those who failed to charge them.CDCR told KCRA 3 the total number of violators rose by 19 percent after realignment."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.kcra.com/article/gps-bracelet-tampering-on-the-rise-in-california-1/6402283>