The intricate details surrounding a very sad story.
On February 21st, Michael Mejia shot and killed a Whittier Police Department officer during a traffic stop. Mejia also wounded another Whittier police officer in the shooting and has allegedly been linked to a shooting in the city of Los Angeles. You can read the story by clicking HERE.
This case is interesting because initial reports (by CNN click HERE) proposed that Mejia had just been released from CA State parole a week earlier. However, a local TV station (KTLA 5) has reported that Mejia was not released early, but completed his State ordered time and was no longer on parole. This is where is gets a bit convoluted.
Upon release, Mejia was still on Los Angeles County Probation and had reported to the probation department. The KTLA-5 article reports that he had been jail a couple of times due to probation violations, serving several 10-day jail sentences as sanctions. So while the State of CA Parole Division seems to be “off the hook,” one wonders why Mejia was still on the street, especially since he’d been in an out of trouble since his release.
Of course numerous reasons exist as to why Mejia was not jailed longer (rules of county probation, jail overcrowding, legal issues, etc.). One thing that seems evident is that a grievous error of judgement occurred from someone in the LA County Probation Department. And this error cost the City of Whittier dearly. I’ll be watching closely over the next weeks to see what comes of this story.
Thoughts?
This article is so sad. It is apparent a mistake, or really multiple mistakes, were made in regards to this criminal. He was arrested several times while on parole and was let go to reoffend many more times until this tragic crime in question was allowed. He clearly should have been locked up. I don’t know if this was due to overcrowding, or what, but this offender clearly was not safe to enter society.
I’m sure the exact parallel protocol was used nonstop with dozens of other cases, and unfortunately this one showed what could go wrong. As protocol is followed ( loosely) it’s hard to put blame one one job title. You can follow this case to the ground, but I find making an example out of one available case is futile. The conversation of corrected and rehabilitated needs a harder stare.
On a side note, these overcrowded jails and type of crime we need to house could use a harder stare also. Hope these affected families find peace. And that someone at a desk or on a bench is more cautious from here out.
Mejia is definitely someone that should not have been released back into society. I do not understand why he was released early in the first place. He is one that should stay in jail. We need to be sure to keep those that are violent locked up. If it was due to overcrowding I’m sure that there are inmates (that would not be a big threat to society) that could have been released instead. It is obvious by the great number of times he has been arrested that he should not be in society.
Mejia is an individual that clearly should not have been released, regardless if under the state parole of the LA County probation department. I feel that there should be investigation into the intricate details that led to his release, who allowed it, etc.. From seeing the harm that he has caused to the community already, it is apparent that someone was in the wrong in letting him out and offenders like him are the ones who should be locked up.
This situation was a great mistake that happened upon the community. It is unfortunate that a mistake like this, that could have been avoided, led to an officer’s death.To keep society safe, we need to incarcerate repeat offenders. Mejia has shown time and time again that he will reoffend, so he should never have been let out.
To me this situation is just an example of several of the problems that there is within Probation Departments as well as the criminal justice system as a whole. It is frustrating to me that this situation could have possibly been avoided if certain things were not overlooked and misjudged. It also shows the problem with the media and that it provided information on crimes and often gives the public information without it being corrected or determined to be correct. This often causes a lot of confusion with cases and can lead to wrong feelings or opinions about the case. This happens a lot in todays media with criminal cases.
California is having a ton of problems with overcrowded prisons/jails, and not having enough funding. It seems like law enforcement really tried to put him in prison, and keep him there but they were unsuccessful numerous times probably because of funding and overcrowding.
Also why wasn’t rehabilitation used in this situation? An article says he was sentenced to an extra 2 years in prison just for being a gang member so why didn’t we try to intervene and get him out of the gang? Kind of like Chicago did with Hug-a-Thug. Give him an education, a job, tattoo removal, or relocate him away from the gang. Unfortunately this did not happen, probably because of funding.