Record Number of Prisoners Reached Again Last Year
U.S. Department of Justice
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EST BJS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1994 202-307-0784
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The number of state and federal prisoners at
the end of last year reached a new record number--948,881
inmates, an almost two-fold increase since 1980, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.
In 1980 the nation's prisons held 329,821 men and women. The
average annual increase since then has been 8.5 percent.
Last year's growth--65,225 inmates, or 7.4 percent--was equal to a
weekly average gain of about 1,250 prisoners. As of last December
31, state prisons were estimated to be operating between 18
percent and 29 percent above capacity, while the federal system
was estimated to be operating at 36 percent over capacity.
The federal system at the end of last year had 89,586 prisoners,
which was almost 12 percent more than at the end of 1992. Among
the states, California had the largest number of inmates (119,951),
followed by Texas (71,103) and New York (64,569). Texas also had
29,546 inmates backed up in local jails awaiting transfer to state
prisons.
The incarceration rate for prisoners sentenced to more than a year
was 351 per 100,000 U.S. residents--also a new record. The states
with the highest incarceration rates were Texas (553, including
the state prisoners in jails), Oklahoma (506) and Louisiana (499)
per 100,000 residents of their respective states.
Between 1988 and 1993, the number of sentenced prisoners grew 51
percent, an increase of more than 306,000 prisoners. All regions
of the country have shown approximately equal growth rates during
the 5-year period.
Almost half of the growth since 1980 was linked to increases in
the number of drug offenders entering prison. In 1992, the latest
year for which the data are available, the number of new prison
commitments for drug offenses reached an estimated 102,000, or 30
percent of the new commitments for that year. In 1980, 8,900
(7 percent) of the new commitments were for drug offenses. During
this period, the number of adult arrests for drug law violations
more than doubled (from 471,200 to 980,700), and the likelihood
of going to prison increased five-fold, from 19 admissions per
1,000 adult arrests to 104.
BJS noted that during the 1980-1992 period, in addition to drug
offenders, more people were arrested for sexual assault, robbery,
and aggravated assault. An increasingly higher percentage of
these defendants, as well as burglary defendants, were sent to
prison. This combination of more arrests and higher imprisonment
rates resulted in almost 50,000 more people entering prison in
1992 for these offenses.
Inmate growth was also linked to increases in the number of parole
and probation violators returned to prison. In 1980, 82 percent
of state prisoners were admitted to prison directly after
sentencing by a court and 17 percent were admitted for parole
violations. By 1992 the percentage of admissions for parole
violations had increased to 30.
The rise in the prison population was greatest among black males.
Between 1980 and 1992, the black male prison population increased
by 186 percent (261,100 inmates), compared to 143 percent
(228,500) for white males. During the same years, the number of
white females increased 275 percent (16,200), and the number of
black females grew by a nearly identical 278 percent (17,500).
In 1992 the incarceration rate of black males was 2,678 per 100,000
black residents. The rate of white males was 372 per 100,000. The
incarceration rate among black females was 143 per 100,000,
compared to 20 per 100,000 for white females.
As of the end of last year there were 55,365 female state and
federal prisoners--5.8 percent of the total inmate population.
During the year Texas had the largest increase among the states
(61 percent), going from 2,487 to 4,015.
Single copies of the BJS bulletin, "Prisoners in 1993" (NCJ-147036)
as well as other BJS statistical reports may be obtained from the
BJS Clearinghouse, Box 179, Annapolis Junction, Maryland 20701-0179.
The telephone number is 1-800-732-3277. Fax orders to 410-792-4358.
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94-74
After hours contact: Stu Smith 301-983-9354
Owning Topic : T=BJS Press Releases - 93 E= 372 Type = e
Date Published: June 1, 1994