The Supreme Court has endorsed a court order requiring California to cut its prison population by thousands of inmates to improve health care for those who remain behind bars.

The court said in a 5-4 decision Monday that the reduction is "required by the Constitution" to correct longstanding violations of inmates' rights.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, a California native, wrote the majority opinion, in which he included photos of severe overcrowding. The court's four Democratic appointees joined with Kennedy.

The ruling comes as no surprise to Indio police chief Brad Ramos.

He's working with city and county leaders to prepare for the eventual release of more than 40,000 prisoners.

"We've been pretty proactive the past 18 months, 2 years on looking at what impacts it's going to have, what plans are we going to have in place," said Ramos.

Don't expect a mass release, said Riverside County Probation Office's Alan Crogan.

Inmates will still serve their sentences, but some low-risk prisoners could be released sooner.

"We can show a little bit of compassion. If they're first offenses and they didn't have a prior record and certain petty offense I would give them a second chance," said part time valley resident Jim Thompson.

But, Chief Ramos worries some violent criminals will get out and end up back in his city.

"Is my preference that they finish out their term, yes. But reality is it's not going to happen so let's make sure we have programs, supervisor and action plans in place throughout Riverside County," said Ramos.

Improvements to the county's vocational, drug rehab and mental health programs.

"There's not help for them out here. They're getting locked up continuously it's like a rotation, in and out because they don't have help for anyone out here," said Indio resident

According to Crogan, the Supreme Court ruling should go into effect within the next 7 - 10 days.

The county is expected to give cities money to help comply with the ruling.

But, with Riverside County dealing with a major budget deficit, there's no telling when those funds could be handed out.