thousands of early releases. jean casarez reports. >> reporter: nationwide, texas receive the most inmates followed by florida and iowa. cocaine convictions account for almost 50% of the inmates to be released, followed by methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin. >> a lot of people think the crime is going to go up with all of these inmates coming out. >> i doubt it but don't know. if it does, it will be because of the conditions on the ground in our communities are so dire we have so much poverty and hopelessness and so much homelessness. >> reporter: new york police commissioner bill bratton agrees. >> the patrol bureau cannot hire more patrol officers so who is going to watch these people when they go out on patrol? >> reporter: it isn't the first time. in 2007, changes in sentencing guidelines resulted in reducing sentences for over 16,000 federal drug offenders. a five-year study by the u.s.