HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
Late last year, Huntsville Police reported a spike in burglaries and break-ins. They've launched several initiatives to stop the crime, but repeat offenders are taking a toll on the system.
Shaquille Parker is a frequent flyer in the law enforcement community. The 16-year-old served prison time for shooting at and trying to rob a man a few years ago. Now he's 18 years old, and he hasn't learned his lesson.
Huntsville Police recently connected Parker to two robberies that ended in shots being fired. Madison Police also arrested and charged Parker with four felonies for his involvement in a home invasion.
"We're seeing a lot of people that we've already arrested going back out and being rearrested for the same crimes a month or two later," said Huntsville Police Sergeant Mark Roberts.
Huntsville Police released these numbers. Between November 1, 2011 and the beginning of 2012, officers arrested 51 people for break-ins - 33 of them were either on parole after serving time for a felony or were out on bond awaiting trial for a felony. Two of those men were arrested twice in a 10 day period for burglary. After their second arrest, they confessed to committing 18 burglaries during their time out on bond.
"You see the same faces a lot and it's particularly disturbing when you've set them a bond or another judge has set them a reasonable bond and allowed them that privilege and they've committed some new offenses," said Madison County Circuit Court Judge Alan Mann. "Bond is a privilege."
Police arrest the suspects.
"65 percent of the time a robbery occurs we're catching those criminals," said Sgt. Roberts. "That's compared to the national average of about 28 percent."
Lawyers prosecute and judges sentence, but nobody in that group controls what happens next.
"If you get a 10 year sentence, you may not serve, for a non-violent offence, a year or two years," said Judge Mann.
Authorities are working closer than ever with the district attorney's office for higher bonds. Is it the ultimate solution? No. But it's the best tool they have at their disposal as the state of Alabama faces continuing financial hurdles.
"Prisons are overcrowded and nobody wants to build new prisons," said Judge Mann.
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