U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics Releases New Numbers about Nation’s Correctional Population
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009December 8, 2009
For Immediate Release
U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics Releases New Numbers about Nation’s Correctional Population
New York—The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released two bulletins today that examine the numbers of prisoners and individuals under probation or parole supervision in the nation for 2008 and report on related trends—including an overall increase in the number of individuals being released from federal and state prisons.
Although these bulletins contain rich information for policymakers and practitioners, the CSG Justice Center’s National Reentry Resource Center, supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is highlighting just a few of the findings related to reentry and providing information on how to access the full reports as soon as they became available.
The new statistics reveal that the total prison population growth rate (.8 percent) was the slowest in eight years; however, “the numbers of state and federal prisoners reached all-time yearend highs in 2008.” BJS estimates that about 1 in every 198 U.S. residents was incarcerated in federal or state prison at the end of 2008.
Prisoners in 2008 reveals that the number of individuals released from federal and state prisons rose to 735,454 (an increase of 2 percent). The bulletin also reports that there was an 8 percent increase in the number of individuals released to the community without any conditions. These numbers underscore the need for reentry resources and technical assistance to state and local service providers.
Probation and Parole in the United States, 2008 provides useful information about the nearly 5.1 million adults under community supervision—about 1 in every 45 adults in the country. (The bulletin on prisoners indicates that although the number of parole violators admitted to state prison increased again in 2008, the rate of that increase was slower than in the previous two years.)
Both bulletins provide detailed appendixes with information about particular states, methodologies, and notes that describe how jurisdictions collect and report data.
Prisoners in 2008 (NCJ-228417), by William J. Sabol, Heather C. West, and Matthew Cooper, can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p08.htm. Probation and Parole in the United States, 2008 (NCJ-228230), by Lauren E. Glaze and Thomas P. Bonczar, can be downloaded at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/ppus08.htm.
