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BJS reports first decline in jail population in modern mass incarceration era

By Douglas A. Berman

This new press release from DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics provides an interesting report on a new accounting of our nation's jail populations: As of midyear 2009, 767,620 inmates were held in custody of county and city jail authorities, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today.  During the 12-month period ending June 30, 2009, the local jail population declined by 2.3 percent (down 17,936 inmates).  This is the first decline in the U.S. jail population since BJS implemented the Annual Survey of Jails in 1982.  The number of male inmates decreased 1.7 percent (down nearly 12,000) and female inmates decreased 6 percent (down more than 5,900). Local jails, unlike prisons, are confinement facilities usually operated by a local law enforcement agency...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 03, 2010 (boomark / email).