The Crime Report

State Prison Populations Drop

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

For the first time in 40 years, the state prison population declined, says Prison Count 2010 a new survey by the Pew Center on the States. The population decreased in 27 states, California’s population fell the most loosing 4,257 prisoners in 2009. Five other states reduced their prison population by 1,000 inmates. In 23 states the prison population grew, and more than half the increase was in five states: Pennsylvania (2,122), Florida (1,527), Indiana (1,496), Louisiana (1,399) and Alabama (1,053).

Read the full survey here.

Use the Crime Report for more information on prisons.

Posted in Prisons, Research, State Prisons | No Comments »

Racial Disparities in the Juvi System: How Does Your State Measure Up?

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Way back in 1988, the federal government recognized that minority youths were more likely to be incarcerated than white youths for the same offense, and mandated that states “access and address” the issue. So how are we doing? A new, interactive data set and map from the W. Haywood Burns Institute breaks the information down by state, and further by offense, race and more. The site includes graphs on the state’s one-day incarceration count, and provides contact information for local decision makers and advocates.

Click here for the map.

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Posted in Article, Juvenile Justice, Race and Sentencing, Race, Ethnic and Gender Issues, Research, Sentencing, Statistics | No Comments »

Making the Most of Social Media

Friday, March 5th, 2010

The Fels Institute of Government at University of Pennsylvania released a study with examples of seven successful cities using social media tools. There are some interesting sections on law enforcement using social media. Read the report here.