BACA TO FREE 2,600 INMATES APRIL 1 EARLY RELEASE PLAN TO SAVE MONEY.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Facing up to $143 million in budget cuts, Sheriff Lee Baca said Tuesday he plans to release 2,600 Los Angeles County jail inmates on April 1 and put them on electronic monitoring or into supervised work-release programs.

``To ensure that only inmates with offenses that will not threaten public safety are early-released, I have appointed an Oversight of Early Released Offenders Panel that will review and monitor the type of people who are being released,'' Baca wrote in a letter to the Board of Supervisors.

Baca wrote that the vast majority of inmates he will release were convicted for misdemeanor crimes such as domestic violence, driving under the influence of alcohol and minor weapons violations.

``Many will sleep at home and report to programs in the daytime,'' Assistant Sheriff Dennis Dahlman said. ``Those with jobs will report to their jobs in the daytime and go to supervised programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, anger management classes or something else dealing with what they are in jail for.''

The release will reduce the county's jail population to the 17,000 level the department has budgeted for next fiscal year.

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said Baca's announcement raises public safety concerns.

``It's a dangerous and reckless policy to release inmates from the jail,'' Antonovich said. ``We have a crime problem today. Having more criminals on the street will exacerbate public safety.''

Last summer, Baca began releasing more than 2,000 inmates a month after they served 70 percent of their sentences for misdemeanor convictions.

This fiscal year, Baca made $84 million in cuts, including the closure of the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, Biscailuz Recovery Center in Los Angeles and the South Facility at the Pitchess Detention Center in Saugus.

The department also eliminated or cut back on community policing, the cargo theft team, Asian Crime Task Force and Hate Crimes Unit.

Dahlman said the department is looking at having to make a minimum of $82 million in cuts - and may have to make $143 million in cuts if the county's vehicle license fees are not restored by state lawmakers.

The cuts come as a recent sheriff's report shows the number of homicides jumped 15 percent from 275 in 2001 to 317 in 2002. Major crimes rose 3 percent from 86,289 in 2001 to 88,978.