Hard-core gang member Howard Astorga is a parolee who had three prior felony convictions but was classified as low-level, non-violent criminal offender based on his commitment offense of Possession of Control Substance.

If Astorga was still in state prison today, he would be among the thousands of inmates to be freed under the early release program and assigned to the new non-revocable parole status.

In fact, Astorga is on his way back to prison after being found guilty Monday of the shooting death of four-year-old Roberto Lopez Jr. which occurred in the Echo Park area.

His case is typical of many of those who are being released early to reduce prison costs and overcrowding -- convicts whose classification as low-level, non-violent offenders hides the truth of their violent and dangerous behavior, largely because of plea bargaining and the way state law is written.

In 2006, a parolee named Alberto Alvarez was arrested and charged with the murder of East Palo Alto Police Officer Richard May. During the murder trial court testimony revealed that Alvarez, after shooting May twice, walked up to the fallen police officer and shot him again in the head. His sentence to death was affirmed by San Mateo Superior Court Judge Craig Parsons.

Who is Alberto Alvarez? Alvarez, on the date and time that he murdered police officer Richard May, was on active parole supervision after being sent to state prison for possession of marijuana for sales, a non violent, low-level offense.

If Alvarez were being released from state prison for that crime now, he would have been assigned to the new non-revocable parole status.Another story in the press recently involved an article about parolee Jonathan Schwartz who cut off his GPS and was subsequently arrested by the Burbank Police Department.

Where were the parole agents supposedly keeping track of him? Did they know where he was or what he had done? Most likely, the answer to both questions is NO. Schwartz was on parole for a drug-related offense.

The parole officer assigned to monitor Phillip Garrido, the notorious kidnapper of Jaycee Lee Dugard, carried a caseload of 40 passive sex offenders. Parole Agents who are responsible for the parole supervision and the monitoring of Passive Sex Offender Case Loads are not mandated to run tracks on the GPS worn by their parolees. Schwartz like Garrido was supervised and monitored on a 40 -1 Passive sex offender case load.

The new NON-REVOCABLE PAROLE POLICY went into effect on Jan. 25 -- the same day a young man named Donald J. Fernandes was arrested and charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Fernandes was on parole for a non-violent , low level criminal offense.

More recently, parolee Silvio Perea was arrested for the murder of his neighbor. Perea like Fernandes was on parole for a low-level, non-violent criminal offense. Blunt Force Trauma is listed as the cause of death in both of these murders.

I ask the same questions once again: Did our state elected officials have a true understanding of what a non-violent, low level criminal offender is prior to voting for SB 3X- 18? How many more innocent people are going to be killed at the hands of these by non-violent, low-level criminal offenders? How many more police officers are going to be killed by non-violent, low-level criminal offenders?

(Caroline Aguirre retired as a parole agent after working more than two decades with the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation)