Charges against parolees in 6 homicides spur state review

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Six homicides allegedly committed by five Pennsylvania parolees over the past two months, including the slayings of two children and a Pittsburgh police officer, have struck a chord in the ranks of law enforcement and the state's prisons agency.

Calling the crimes "horrendous," state Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel told The Associated Press on Wednesday his agency will review the parolees' history in prison and under parole supervision and try to determine if something should have been done differently.

"These five are just so shocking that I think it requires a response from everybody in the system," Wetzel said in an interview.

The slayings have prompted calls from county prosecutors and state corrections officers for a review of Pennsylvania's parole practices, although the president of the corrections officers' union said Wednesday that an internal review isn't enough for a system in which parole has become too automatic.

The arrests come on the heels of the state overhauling the parole system, helping lower the state's prison population and ballooning the ranks of parolees. Rank-and-file parole agents, meanwhile, say they have been stripped of discretion in their ability to temporarily remove a potentially dangerous parolee from the street.

One of those changes means Wetzel's agency now oversees parole agents in addition to Pennsylvania's state prisons, although the ultimate decision to release someone on parole is typically up to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. Last year, 6,526 people under parole supervision were arrested, or almost 16% of the more than 41,000 total, according to Department of Corrections data.

That included 93 for murder. Most, or 4,676, were for non-violent cases, it said. Running totals for this...