If Realignment underlies the increase in crime, we would expect counties with higher proportions of realigned offenders in their total felon populations would suffer worse trends in crime. Our study found no definitive association. The 25 counties with higher than average proportions of realigned offenders did not have any unusual increase in violent crime, but did have a somewhat larger than average increase in property crimes. However, county trends were so variable that trends were not significant.
California Counties, Realignment, and Crime Trends: 58 Different Stories