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5% of criminal prosecutions in america, and state and local handling the rest already exercise the discretion he urged. >> i think district attorneys across the country are shaking their head. it is almost impossible to get a united states attorney to take a quote, low level drug possession case, closed quote. i see his announcement as telling federal prosecutors to not prosecute cases they are currently not prosecute. >> reporter: when asked why the reforms were taken now, when prison overcrowding and issues have been known for decades, doj says the attorney took similar measures three years ...

Than ten years, for nonviolent possessory offenses. since the mandatory minimum lawets went into effect we have 800% increase in incarceration rate. we incarcerate at seven times the rate of most of the rest of the world. we have prison overcrowding of 40% according to the justice department. it seems there is some bipartisan consensus. not just rand paul make the case. new england, jeb bush, norquist saying the drug laws are out of kilter and this seams seems to me a good use of prosecutorial discretion so we don't trigger the dra cone yn sentences for mere possession of a drug when you're no...

To sound the alarm. she is speaking out against the state's wishes. saying she believes the public is not safe. she says she's speaking out for herself, personally and not the department of corrections. >> in all my years of law enforcement, over 30 years, i for the first time feel at a total loss. that i can honestly say we do our job, we do the very best job that we can. but we can't protect the community with this. we can't protect them from these sex offenders because they get out of jail the next day. >> reporter: how did this happen? two words. prison overcrowding. there's simply not eno...

>> reporter: how did this happen? two words. prison overcrowding. there's simply not enough room to keep people in jail. the state of california tried to solve its own prison overcrowding bypassing a bill called ad-109, backed by the governor jerry brown. it called for a realignment of where criminals serve time. low-level offenders, around especially parole violators, would go to county jails. but in san jauquin county, the jail is under a court order to relieve its own overcrowding. according to the sheriff, the state dumped its problem on the county and the county is now dumping criminals o...

Public is not safe. she says she's speaking out for herself personally and not the department of corrections. >> in all my years in law enforcement, and it's been over 30 years, i, for the first time, feel at a total loss, that i can honestly say we do our job, we do the very best job that we can. but we didn't protect the community with this. we can't protect them from these sex offenders. because they get out of jail the next day. >> reporter: how did this happen? two words. prison overcrowding. there's simply not enough room to keep people in jail. the state of california tried to solve its...