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1984 Prisoners in 1 (1984)

handle is hein.death/prsin1984 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Buea of Jutc Sttstc Buleti .soners in 1984 The total number of prisoners in State and Federal correctional facilities at yearend 1984 was 463,866. During the year 26,618 prisoners were added to the prison rolls. The States and the District of Columbia added 24,281 prisoners; the Federal system, 2,337. The increase for 1984 brings the total growth in the prison population since 1980 to more than 134,000 inmates-an increase of 40% in the 4-year period. The 1984 growth rate (6.1%) was slightly greater than the 1983 rate (5.7%). Although the 1984 rate is roughly half of that for the record-high years of 1981 and 1982, it is nearly twice the average rate for the years 1978 through 1980. Furthermore, the 1984 increase in the number of inmates was almost three times larger than the average number added annually during 1978, 1979, and 1980 (table 1). Overall, Federal institutions grew at a slightly faster rate in 1984 than State institutions. The percent increases were 7.3 and 6.0, respectively. The difference is explained, however, by the addition to Federal facilities of 1,066 prisoners with either no sentence or a sentence of less than 1 year. These additional prisoners (which include prisoners under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) account for 46% of the total increase in the Federal prison rolls. The number of inmates sentenced to Federal prisons for more than a year grew by 4.8%; the comparable popula- tion in State prisons grew by 6.2% (table 2). Federal and State prison populations have increased by the same proportion since 1980. Their relative rates of growth have fluctuated from year to year, but by yearend 1984 both State and Federal systems had grown by 40.6% (table 3). April 1985 This bulletin presents the yearend 1984 population count for our Nation's prisons. For the 10th consecutive year, yearend prisoner populations reached an all-time high, numbering more than 463,000. Since 1980 the prison population has jumped more than 40%. While jurisdictions have struggled to accommodate the in- creased populations through capacity expansion, adding an esti- mated 100,000 beds in the last 4 years, the number of prisoners has grown by more than 130,000 over the same period. This report includes a new feature comparing the number of prison admissions since 1960 with the number of reported serious crimes. It shows that the number of prison admissions from courts for every 100 serious crimes reported to the police declined from 6.3 in 1960 to 2.3 in 1970. The 1984 rate of increase in the Nation's prison population, although similar to the 1983 rate, reflected a different pattern of growth among the States. State-to-State variations were less pronounced. Twenty-seven States experienced a slowing of their growth; 11 of these States reduced their rates of growth by at least 5%. Two States (Tennessee and West Virginia) experi- enced actual decreases in their prison populations after increases in 1983. Florida, North Carolina and Vermont each reported an increase in the number of inmates after a decline (of more than 5%) in the previous year. Only one State (Alaska) grew by more than 20% in 1984; three had grown that fast in 1983. Two other States (New Hampshire and Oregon) grew by more than 15% compared to six in 1983. After remaining fairly stable in the 1970s, the ratio began to increase in 1981, reaching 4.0 in 1983. If the 1960 rate of prison admissions relative to crime had prevailed in 1983, the number of offenders sentenced to prison that year would have been about 100,000 more than the 173,000 who were actually admitted. On the other hand, if the 1980 rate had prevailed in 1983, about 60,000 fewer offenders would have gone to prison. I would like to express my gratitude to the departments of corrections in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Prison System for their generous cooperation in compiling these data. This report marks the 58th year of the annual National Prisoner Statistics Program. Steven R. Schlesinger Director Regional variations persist Despite the decline in variation in the rates of growth among States in Table 1. Change in the total prison population, 1977-84 Annual percent Year Number change 1977 300,024 - 1978 307,276 2.4 1979 314,457 2.3 1980 329,821 4.9 1981 369,930 12.2 1982 413,806 11.9 1983 437,248 5.7 1984 463,866 6.1 Note: National Prisoner Statistics reports since 1977 are based on the jurisdiction population.

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