The U.S. Correctional Population Declined 22%-A Decrease of 61,000 Offenders

Highlights

We are at record lows for people under correctional supervision while urban violence increases.

Author

Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.

Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of directing award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Former police officer. Aspiring drummer.

Author of ”Success With The Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization” available at Amazon and additional booksellers.

Article

What’s below (beyond observations) comes from a Bureau Of Justice Statistics press release.

Bureau Of Justice Statistics

The total correctional population in the United States fell 1% from yearend 2020 to 2021, according to statistics in Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 – Statistical Tables and Probation and Parole in the United States, 2021, two reports released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The number of persons held in prison or jail or supervised in the community on probation or parole decreased by 61,100 (emphasis added), down to an estimated 5,444,900. Overall, an estimated 1 in 48 U.S. residents age 18 or older were under correctional supervision at yearend 2021, down from 1 in 47 in 2020.

“Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant short-term changes in correctional estimates, the overall correctional population continues to decline,” said Dr. Alexis Piquero, Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, the U.S. correctional population declined 22% (emphasis added).

A drop in the number of persons supervised in the community on probation accounted for 65% of this overall change, while decreases in the number of persons incarcerated in state and federal prison accounted for 26% of the change.

In 2021, the U.S. incarceration rate increased for the first time in 15 years. However, the rate was still lower than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic rate of 810 per 100,000 in 2019.

The increase in the incarceration rate was driven by a 16% growth in the number of persons housed in local jails, which held an additional 87,200 persons from 2020 to 2021.

In 2021, the community supervision rate fell to a 21-year low of 1,440 persons on probation or parole per 100,000 adult U.S. residents, after declining each year since it peaked at 2,240 persons per 100,000 in 2007.

At yearend 2021, an estimated 3,745,000 adults were under community supervision, down 136,600 persons from January 1, 2021 (emphasis added).

During 2021, the probation population decreased in 31 states and in the U.S. federal system and increased in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

The rate of adults on probation in 2021 was at its lowest point in 36 years (1,143 per 100,000 adult U.S. residents). From 2011 to 2021, among adults on probation whose most serious offense was known, the percentage that was supervised for a violent offense rose from 18% to 26%.

At yearend 2021, 803,200 adults were on parole supervision, a decrease of 7% from January 1, 2021, the largest annual change since 1992.

Also, the parole population in 2021 was at its lowest point since 2006, when 798,200 persons were supervised on parole. The parole population fell in 44 states and the District of Columbia, and the number of persons in the community under a federal term of supervised release also decreased. Six states had an increase in the parole population.

Changes in the demographic characteristics of the U.S. correctional population were small from 2020 to 2021 but were greater than 20% over the decade from 2011 to 2021.

The number of males in the total correctional population declined less than 1% (down 28,300) from 2020 to 2021, while the number of females decreased 3% (down 32,800).

Compared to 2011, the number of males under correctional supervision in 2021 declined by 21% and females decreased 25%.

Over that same decade, the number of black persons under correctional supervision decreased more than 27%, while the number of Hispanic persons declined 21% and whites declined 20%.

“It is important to note that while blacks and Hispanics remain incarcerated at greater rates than whites, we are seeing long-term reductions in those differences,” said Director Piquero.

Sources

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 – Statistical Tables

Probation and Parole in the United States, 2021

The reports, related documents and additional information about BJS’s statistical publications and programs are available on the BJS website at bjs.ojp.gov.

Observations

We are at record lows for those under correctional supervision.

Arrests have plummeted while thousands of police officers have left their jobs.

There’s no doubt that urban crime has increased considerably. Since 2019, homicides are up by 50 percent. Aggravated assaults are up 36 percent per the Major Cities Chiefs Association. The risk of violent street crimes rose by 40 percent.

There seems to be a correlation between a lack of offender accountability via corrections and rising crime in urban areas.

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National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.

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