LOS ANGELES (AP) — The transfer of California state prisoners to county jails has forced the Los Angeles Police Department to pull dozens of officers from regular patrol duties to monitor ex-convicts, according to a new report.

Since 2011, the LAPD has had 160 to 170 officers assigned full-time to keep tabs on thousands of convicted felons living in the city and the department expects to spend about $18 million this fiscal year on the program, according to the report cited by the Los Angeles Times.

The Police Commission was scheduled to discuss the report Tuesday.

A 2-year-old state law designed to ease prison overcrowding sentenced people convicted of less-serious crimes to county jails instead of state lockups. Those released are supervised by county probation officers instead of state parole officers.

Nearly 5,400 of those ex-convicts are living in Los Angeles, according to the report.

However, the county lacked the staff to handle that many former prisoners.

“They had realignment thrust on them ... and have struggled to build up the capacity to provide effective supervision,” LAPD Assistant Chief Michel Moore said.

The LAPD has helped by developing teams to make home checks on felons to make sure they are complying with probation rules.

About 3,100 of them have been arrested on suspicion of violating probation or committing new crimes, the report said.