Most of the readers of this page are aware of the tragedy of the shooting, allegedly by the parolee Lonnie Herrera.
Much has been made of the fact that local law enforcement were unable to determine Mr. Herrera's parole status based on the electronic system set up for just such purpose.
Further, there is some confusion as to why Mr. Herrera was not on a parole hold at the time he is alleged to have committed the shooting.
The Sheriff's office apparently is hoping to have a meeting next week with what the Free Press has chosen to call "stakeholders"(Story link here) which is a term I think should only be used in the appropriate circumstances. Those circumstances never exist.
What we have here are parties who are responsible for various aspects of the system. They are not beneficiaries.
The Sheriff's office quite justifiably wants to know why the proper alerts and information were not communicated to Mesa County regarding the situation.
What is important on a larger scale is what does this say about community safety and persons on parole, of which Mesa County has a high percentage. We have opined on other occasions about the Governor's disastrous parole board, which has been releasing inmates onto parole at an unprecedented rate.
The rapid increase of persons on parole I am almost certain will not be close to commensurate with the amount of money or personnel devoted to their supervision.
Our parole officers are called upon to supervise an enormous amount of persons whom have shown very poor skills at managing their own lives and decision-making -- with unfortunate results for those around them.
The constant keening for more money for education purposes for which there is very tenuous if any relationship pales to the direct relationship between supervision of parolees and the commission of new crimes.
This page only hopes that this terrible event will open up a broader inquiry into the corrections and parole system.
At a minimum we must insist that parole officers and law enforcement receive adequate personnel and funds to protect us.
