Major Changes Could Be Ahead For Parole System

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – An internal review of Pennsylvania’s parole system spurred by five parolees getting charged in quick succession with homicide is, in theory, acknowledging a long-standing complaint of parole agents.  It asks lawmakers to update a 2012 law and add a trigger for an automatic six-month to one-year jail sentence for a parolee who continually ignores parole conditions, such as going to treatment or counseling.  The 2012 law already has five such triggers, including threatening behavior or possession of a weapon.  Law enforcement groups largely welcomed the acknowledgement from the state Department of Corrections. The county district attorneys association calls it a “significant recognition.”  Parole agents, however, were skeptical it’ll change a system that, they say, has stripped them of discretion to pull a potentially dangerous parolee off the street.