{"id":671,"date":"2021-10-17T12:01:33","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T16:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=671"},"modified":"2021-10-18T16:32:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T20:32:45","slug":"parole-officers-crime-victim-advocates-rally-against-less-is-more-parole-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-39-no-8\/parole-officers-crime-victim-advocates-rally-against-less-is-more-parole-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Parole officers, crime victim advocates rally against \u2018Less is More\u2019 parole reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 18, 2021 —<\/em> New York State parole officers rallied outside Rikers Island on Oct. 7, 2021, to denounce the recently signed \u201cLess is More\u201d parole reform law and call out its serious repercussions for community safety, parole supervision and crime victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cBottom line \u2013 the \u2018Less\u2019 in this law is public safety; the \u2018More\u2019 is crime,\u201d said Gina Lopez, a parole officer and council leader of PEF Division 236, which includes about 800 parole officers across New York state. \u201cAs parole officers, we want to do our jobs to the best of our ability and this misguided law makes that difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLess Is More\u201d unilaterally prohibits parole officers from using their experience, training and knowledge to protect communities from parolees who are willfully and despite repeated warnings continuing down a path toward re-violating the law. It irreparably harms the rehabilitation process for many parolees and eliminates the authority of parole officers to counsel or issue violations to parolees for violations like illegal drug use, alcohol use, skipping curfew and failing to report.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in reform, but this law requires that we turn our eyes away from those who are still serving their court-imposed sentences, but who continue to demonstrate the same bad behaviors and make the same bad choices that negatively impact their communities and which got them in trouble in the first place,\u201d said PEF President Wayne Spence, a parole officer for almost three decades.<\/p>\n

Spence and Lopez, joined by fellow parole officer Gabriela Franklyn, shared real-life violations they have seen on the job and pointed to news articles where parolees on the streets committed new crimes.<\/p>\n

Crime victim, advocate speaks out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jennifer Harrison\u2019s life changed forever on January 15, 2005, when a parolee participated in the murder of her boyfriend and his friend.<\/p>\n

The man escaped conviction when his brother plead guilty to the homicides.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was never violated for being out of state, for being in a bar, or for being involved in an altercation resulting in two homicides. All of which are clear violations,\u201d said Harrison, the founder of Victims Rights NY<\/a>. \u201cSo many of the families I work with watched as \u2018their murderers\u2019 were paroled recently. Their only safety nets were geographical limitations and knowing that if the killer didn\u2019t do the right thing, he\/she would go back to prison. This law makes it virtually impossible to reincarcerate parolees for breaking the rules, even though they were released from prison on the premise of being rehabilitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have already been to hell and back, are distraught and now live in fear,\u201d she said. \u201cThey constantly wonder why their government keeps doing this to them while helping those who murdered their children and loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

PEF was a strong foe of \u2018Less is More\u2019 legislation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n