El Monte to Host Community Forum on AB 109, Prop 47 & Prop 57
WHAT: The City of El Monte is hosting a community forum to provide information and raise awareness about safety concerns created by Assembly Bill 109, Proposition 47 and Proposition 5, which have resulted in rising crime rates and overburdened police departments throughout Los Angeles County.
The Impact to Our Communities forum, free and open to the public, will feature presentations from Association of Deputy District Attorneys President Michele Hanisee, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Chief Stephen B. Johnson, El Monte Councilman Juventino “J” Gomez and El Monte Police Chief David Reynoso.
“It is our responsibility to provide facts, raise questions and keep our citizens informed about how recent changes to California’s criminal law have impacted our communities,” Gomez said. “Cities throughout the state are seeing an increase in crime and something needs to be done.”
L.A. County saw a 39 percent increase in violent crime and a 10 percent increase in property crimes from 2013 to 2016, according to the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. Representatives from the Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers (LARCS) will be available at the Forum to provide the community additional resources and information.
WHEN:
Friday, Oct. 6
9 to 9:45 a.m. (refreshments/videos)
9:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. (speaker presentations)
WHERE:
Grace T. Black Auditorium
3130 Tyler Ave.
El Monte, CA 91731
DETAILS: AB 109, California’s Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, sought to alleviate the state’s overcrowded prison system, transferring jurisdiction and funding for managing lower-level criminal offenders from the State to the counties.
Prop. 47, which was approved in 2014, reduces certain drug possession felonies to misdemeanors. The law allows people who are already serving a felony conviction for these crimes to petition the court for resentencing, and those who have completed their sentence to file an application for the felony conviction to be reduced to a misdemeanor.
Prop. 57 passed in 2016, decriminalized drug and some theft offenses and increased parole and good behavior opportunities for nonviolent offenders