OC Going To Be Less Safe: D.A. And Sheriff Blast OC Judge’s Order To Free Inmates

(Santa Ana, CA) – Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is joining Sheriff Don Barnes in blasting a Santa Ana judge’s order that the sheriff reduce OC’s jail population by half. The idea is to make more room for social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In an earlier announcement, Barnes said the order would force him to release 18-hundred inmates, many of whom are charged with or have been convicted of violent crimes. Now, the D.A. is chiming in, with a statement saying the court order “will release dangerous and violent criminals back into our neighborhoods.” Spitzer also says that OC’s jail population has already been trimmed by more than 33 percent.