UPDATE: Monrovia Police Brace for Inmate Releases

is preparing for the release of about 20 state prison inmates back into the community over the next 12 months as the state begins to institute a plan to reduce prison overcrowding that the U.S. Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional, the police chief said Tuesday.

The and constitute cruel and unusual punishment by endangering prisoners' health and safety. The court's ruling upheld a California District Court decision made by a three judge panel that ordered the state to release between 38,000 and 46,000 prisoners in the next two years.

Monrovia Police Chief Jim Hunt addressed the City Council Tuesday during the body's regular meeting to explain the consequences that the early release will have on Monrovia.

"This provides some serious concerns for those of us at the local level," Hunt said.

The state is planning on reducing overcrowding by sentencing new non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenders to prison terms in county jails and by having the same offenders monitored by county probation upon their release instead of by the state.

About 10,000 inmates will be released back into Los Angeles County over the next 12 months, and Hunt said about 20 of those people will return to their residences in Monrovia. Of 1,245 inmates expected to be released in October, one has already returned to Monrovia, Hunt said.

Dana Toyama, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, stressed that the prisoners being released are not being released early because of the state plan. These prisoners were scheduled for release already, and the state plans to meet mandated reductions through attrition, she said.

Hunt said police will be aware of every inmate returning to town and stressed that the city has several programs in place that can help criminals transition back into the community.

"We have a number of resources that are available here to try and help folks as they come out to try and get them to not re-offend," Hunt said, citing the city's , the department's Special Enforcement Team, and the city's participation in a county anti-gang initiative.

He also said the department's community policing strategy and city neighborhood watch programs will need to play active roles in dealing with the released inmates.

"For us the key thing is just the grassroots effort that we have to have in the community," he said.

Monrovia also has a county probation officer with an office in town who will be keeping an eye on the released offenders, Hunt said.

"His job as the site director is to get resources to folks that come out (of custody)," Hunt said.

Councilman Joe Garcia asked Hunt if the department could track the rate of recidivism associated with the inmates who were released into Monrovia as part of the state plan, and Hunt agreed to do so.

Many of the offenders being released were convicted of property crimes, Hunt said, so community members and police will have to be especially vigilant in monitoring residential and vehicle burglaries. The police department in northern Monrovia neighborhoods.

And residents will have a new way of tracking crime in town themselves when the department begins , a site that shows where and when crimes occurred on a map of the city. Hunt said the department's crimemapping page could go live as early as Wednesday and will be up by next week at the latest.

Correction: Due to erroneous information provided to Patch, an earlier version of this story incorrectly implied that inmates were being released because of realignment. The prisoners were scheduled to be released before realignment was instituted.