Early Releases Common Under Prop 47:  Proposition 47, California's voter-approved initiative passed in November that downgrades certain felonies to misdemeanors, is concerning law enforcement and other county officials in San Diego County, which saw prison sentences automatically lowered for 5,000 convicted felons after its passage.  Salvador Rivera of Fox 5 San Diego reports that San Diego County Chief Deputy District Attorney David Greenberg emphasizes that not only is the policy failing to help communities and keep crime down, it also falls short of helping deter defendants from future criminal behavior, since they no longer face felony probation and, thus, have no incentive to participate in programs.  Greenberg offered an example of one man in the county who robbed a business four hours after being released from jail, which was the first of five total times since his release.  However, he avoided prison time because, as per Prop. 47, the stolen merchandise was valued at less than $950.

CA Probation Chief wants to Arm Officers:  Plumas County acting probation chief wants to arm his officers due to the implications of prison realignment, or AB 109, which has created a larger and more dangerous population of probationers, many of which require more intensive supervision.  Dan McDonald of Plumas County News reports that acting probation chief Clint Armitage says the probationers coming out of prison "are more sophisticated that just local people" and believes that the situation would be best approached proactively since probationer officers are now required to do field work in many of these cases.  Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood said  "Having armed probationer officers will hold people accountable in meaningful ways - especially in the world we live in now with criminal justice realignment."  Armitage has requested $300,000 from the county's $515,000 AB 109 allotment through the Community Corrections Partnership to pay for it.  The decision to provide probation officers with firearms is ultimately up to the Board of Supervisors.

Infamous 'San Quentin 6' Inmate Murdered:  A member of the infamous 'San Quentin 6,' an inmate who was involved in a bloody 1971 escape attempt that left six people dead, has been killed by another inmate.  The AP reports that 71-year-old Hugo Pinell's murder sparked a riot on the exercise yard of a California's Folsom Prison east of Sacramento Wednesday, which involved approximately 70 inmates, 11 of whom had to be treated for stab wounds at outside hospitals.  Over four decades ago, Pinell slit the throats of San Quentin prison guards while attempting to escape, leading to the deaths of three guards, two inmate trustees and the escape ringleader.  Initially sentenced to life in prison for a 1965 rape charge, Pinell received a second life sentence for killing a correctional officer at a prison in Soledad and yet another life sentence for the assault of the two officers in the San Quentin escape.  CDCR spokeswoman Dana Simas says that Pinell "was definitely the target."

5 Killed, 7 Injured in One Violent Boston Night:  A spurt of violence Wednesday night and early Thursday morning around the Boston area left five people dead and several others injured.  Jan Ransom and Laura Crimaldi of the Boston Globe report that all of the victims were shot and detectives believe that the shootings were not random, though the motive is still being investigated.  The suspect or suspects are still at large, and officials plan to distribute fliers in the area in an effort to obtain information from any witness.