Parole failures indefensible in Garrido case

Though it contained little new information, the state inspector general's report on Phillip Garrido's parole supervision still is stunning. Incompetence in the oversight of the man who is accused of kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard, and holding her captive for 18 years, defies belief.

We agree with most of the recommendations on actions to prevent this kind of outrage from happening again, although we question the call for more aggressive GPS monitoring. And we think there's one key issue that wasn't addressed.

Garrido was supervised by federal and Nevada parole agents from 1988 to 1999, after he was released from prison for a kidnapping and rape in Nevada. We still know very little about that period before California took over his parole in 1999 through an interstate compact.

Inspector General David R. Shaw's report does an excellent job of recounting the surreal succession of opportunities parole agents missed to discover that Dugard was being held captive.

It found that parole agents properly supervised Garrido in just 12 of 123 months. The original agent handling the case never read the file, which described the large back yard -- the place we now know housed a secret compound. And despite 60 visits to the home, no parole agents noticed "clearly visible utility lines"' that ran from the house to a carport in the backyard.

Parole agents weren't alone in failing to see clues. In 2006, a neighbor told the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department that people were living in the back yard. An officer talked with Garrido, concluded there was no problem, and left.

In light of this history, it's hard to argue with many of the report's recommendations, including improving the training of parole agents, ensuring that the risks offenders pose are correctly assessed, and establishing better means to share information with local public safety agencies.

We do question the focus on the use of global positioning devices; while there's nothing wrong with efficiency, it's unclear whether the devices truly deter the people forced to wear them.

The big issue that wasn't addressed is whether the parole population is now so huge that it's beyond effective supervision. As a June article in "Federal Probation" noted: "California's parole population is now so large and its parole agents so overburdened that parolees who represent serious threats to public safety often are not watched closely, and those who wish to go straight often cannot get the help they need."

While individuals made mistakes, the system itself failed miserably with Phillip Garrido -- with tragic consequences for Jaycee Lee Dugard -- and needs to be carefully examined.