Highlights
The 369,200 persons admitted to state prison in 34 states had an estimated 4.2 million prior arrests.
Persons admitted to state prison had a median of nine prior arrests.
About half of persons admitted in 2014 were released by the end of 2015. Over half (59%) were arrested at least once within 2 years.
78 percent of inmates had previous incarcerations. Forty-two percent had 5-10 or more incarcerations. 62 percent were violent.
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There is an immense amount of data from the US Department of Justice and the US Sentencing Commission regarding:
The criminal backgrounds of people entering prison. The overwhelming majority were arrested or incarcerated multiple times before entering prison.
There are millions of previous arrests for people entering prison.
The vast majority in prison are violent, have a background of violence, or are repeat offenders.
Prisoners (including those serving time for violent crimes) routinely serve very short sentences.
The overwhelming majority of people leaving prison are rearrested or incarcerated concurrently with vast decreases in national arrests.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Editor’s note: It’s common for the Bureau of Justice Statistics to use older data sets. Older data serves as a proxy for current conditions because of the large numbers involved and the quality of the peer-reviewed research.
In April 2023, The Bureau of Justice Statistics announced the release of Arrest History of Persons Admitted to State Prison in 2009 and 2014.
Among persons admitted to state prison in 2014 across 34 states, 77% had five or more prior arrests in their criminal history, including the arrest that resulted in their prison sentence.
A similar proportion (76%) of persons admitted to state prison in 29 states in 2009 had five or more prior arrests.
“It is noteworthy that, among persons entering prison, over three-quarters had five or more prior arrests,” said Dr. Alexis Piquero, Director of BJS.
The 369,200 persons admitted to state prison in 34 states in 2014 had an estimated 4.2 million prior arrests in their criminal histories, including the arrest that resulted in their prison sentence.
In both 2009 and 2014, persons admitted to state prison had a median of nine prior arrests in their criminal histories.
About 1 in 10 persons admitted in 2014 at age 24 or younger had at least one prior arrest outside of the state where they were admitted, and about 4 in 10 persons admitted at age 40 or older had at least one such arrest.
More than 1 in 4 persons admitted to state prison in 34 states in 2014 had been sentenced for a violent offense. In both the 2009 and 2014 cohorts, about 7 in 10 persons entering state prison had at least one prior arrest for a drug offense.
About half of persons admitted in 2014 were released by the end of 2015.
Among these released persons, over half (59%) were arrested at least once within 2 years, including 16% for a violent offense.
Forty-two percent were arrested for a public order offense within 2 years of release, making it the most common arrest offense for the 2014 admission cohort.
These findings are based on BJS’s first examination of prison records from the National Corrections Reporting Program in conjunction with criminal history data to analyze characteristics and arrest histories of persons admitted to state prison in the United States. They include arrests that occurred nationwide, both in the state where persons were admitted and in other states.
Source
Arrest History of Persons Admitted to State Prison in 2009 and 2014
Context
The report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics needs context. Consider:
Impact Of Longer Sentences: Released offenders committed well over two million new crimes per the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The odds of recidivism were approximately 29 percent lower for federal offenders sentenced to more than 120 months of incarceration compared to a matched group of federal offenders receiving shorter sentences, US Sentencing Commission.
Violent Offenders: Violent offenders recidivated at a higher rate than non-violent offenders. Over an eight-year follow-up period, nearly two-thirds (63.8%) of violent offenders released in 2010 were rearrested, compared to more than one-third (38.4%) of non-violent offenders. Even higher rates of recidivism apply to firearm offenders, US Sentencing Commission.
Previous Incarcerations: Seventy-eight percent of inmates had previous incarcerations. Forty-two percent had 5-10 or more incarcerations. The vast majority of prison inmates have multiple previous arrests and incarcerations. 62 percent have histories of violence, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Recidivism: The most common understanding of recidivism is based on state data from the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, stating that two-thirds (68 percent) of prisoners released were arrested for a new crime within three years of release from prison, and three-quarters (77 percent) were arrested within five years. Within 3 years of release, 49.7% of inmates either had an arrest that resulted in a conviction with a disposition of a prison sentence or were returned to prison without a new conviction because they violated a technical condition of their release, as did 55.1% of inmates within 5 years of release. A ten-year study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that 82% were arrested at least once during the 10 years following release. Offenders committed well over two million new crimes. About 61% of prisoners released in 2008 returned to prison within 10 years for a parole or probation violation or a new sentence. Prisoners released had a median of nine prior arrests and five prior convictions in their criminal history, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Time Served: Most offenders are out of prison in less than two years. Most violent serve less than three. The data indicates that those serving longer sentences are there because of the seriousness of their crimes, Bureau Of Justice Statistics.
Conclusions
It’s hard to understand the immense opposition to the incarceration of repeat or violent offenders. The vast majority of offenders serve less than three years.
Per the Bureau Of Justice Statistics, 62 percent of all persons imprisoned by states had been sentenced for violent offenses.
If we consider criminal histories, the great majority of incarcerated people have backgrounds of violence or are multiple repeat offenders.
So we have a mostly violent prison population who have multiple prior arrests and incarcerations and return to the justice system in astounding numbers and all this while national arrests are plummeting.
Per the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Centers For Disease Control, Gallup, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and multiple additional sources, violence is increasing dramatically in urban areas. Fear of crime is at an all-time high. Compared to 2019 midyear figures, the same cities in total have experienced a 50% increase in homicides and a roughly 36% increase in aggravated assaults per the Major Cities Chiefs Association, US Crime Rates.
No one disagrees that we should focus on violent, repeat offenders; we seem to be doing that now.
But correctional populations have declined considerably. Is this in the best interest of urban communities being hit hard by violence?
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