The Pew Charitable Trusts - State and Consumer Initiatives about Public Safety

Public Safety in Georgia

With unanimous votes in the legislature, Georgia in May 2012 enacted a comprehensive set of sentencing and corrections reforms designed to improve public safety and curb rapid growth in the size and cost of its prison population.

Pew and Casey Applaud Georgia Leaders for Comprehensive Juvenile Justice Reform

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law today comprehensive legislation that will improve the state’s juvenile justice system by reducing youth recidivism rates and cutting costs to taxpayers.

U.S. Prison Count Continues to Drop

After nearly four decades of explosive growth, the U.S. prison population declined for two years in a row, according to the Justice Department.Inmate counts fell in about half the states in each year from 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Public Attitudes on the Juvenile Justice System in Georgia

This January 2013 issue brief contains information on a survey on public attitudes on the juvenile justice system in Georgia.

Public Safety in Oregon

Public Safety Performance Project> State Work> Georgia Oregon’s prison population has more than quadrupled over the past 30 years, and the state’s imprisonment rate has risen more than three times faster than

State Legislators on Sentencing and Corrections Reforms

Six state legislative leaders reflect on how they successfully enacted comprehensive sentencing and corrections reforms using a bipartisan, interbranch working group and focusing on data and research to craft policies that met their unique challenges.

Illinois Democrats Seek Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants

Illinois Democrats are pushing a bill that would grant driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, saying the policy would improve road safety and cut down on uninsured drivers.

Public Safety Performance Project: Frequently Asked Questions

To learn more about the Public Safety Performance Project, read our 2012 FAQ.

Public Safety in South Dakota

An overview of public safety in South Dakota.

Better Programs, Better Results

This case study focuses on quality assurance monitoring in juvenile justice programs in Washington state—which has led the way in using cutting-edge cost-benefit analysis to guide its budget and policy choices.

With Governor’s Signature, New Jersey Expands Drug Courts

Governor Chris Christie signed a bill Thursday (July 19) that expands New Jersey’s drug court program and mandates treatment rather than jail time for drug abusers convicted of non-violent crimes. That makes New Jersey the first state to require drug treatment within the justice system. For months, the governor has

2012 Georgia Public Safety Reform

In May 2012, Georgia's General Assembly unanimously passed legislation, House Bill 1176, enacting a comprehensive package of sentencing and corrections reforms that will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years while improving public safety.

The High Cost of Corrections in America

Despite the massive increase in the size and cost of America's correctional system, the national recidivism rate remains stubbornly high.

State Fact Sheets: Time Served

The length of time served in prison has increased markedly over the last two decades. See state-specific data in our collection of state fact sheets.

Time Served

The length of time served in prison has increased markedly over the last two decades. Prisoners released in 2009 served an average of nine additional months in custody, or 36 percent longer, than offenders released in 1990.

Georgia Passes Public Safety Bill

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed a set of public safety reforms into law that will make communities safer and cut corrections costs.The new bill and accompanying budget measures will help reduce Georgia's prison population and prisoner return rates.

Public Opinion on Sentencing and Corrections Policy in America

As part of the Public Safety Performance Project's work with states to improve public safety and control corrections costs, we collaborated with two of the nation's leading polling firms to explore public opinion on sentencing and corrections issues across the country.

The Impact of California's Probation Incentive Program

California's probation system has been a major driver of prison admission, but early analysis shows that an incentive program is cutting probation revocations and corrections costs.

State of the States 2012

States face a tough economic climate in the wake of the Great Recession. Sue Urahn discusses the top three challenges for states in the year ahead.

Reducing Recidivism

States spend $50 billion a year on corrections, yet more than four out of ten prisoners wind up back behind bars within three years of release.

Adam Gelb: Enhancing Public Safety

Adam Gelb discussed the expansion of Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation and Enforcement (HOPE) program and, more broadly, how new evidence about what works to break the cycle of crime and imprisonment is helping states cut corrections costs and enhance public safety.

Risk-Needs Assessment 101: Science Reveals New Tools to Manage Offenders

This 2011 report looked at how these tools can help officials to better identify offenders at a high risk of reoffending, while also pinpointing the types of supervision and services that are most likely to prevent future criminal behavior and slow the revolving door of America’s prisons.

2011 Kentucky Reforms Cut Recidivism, Costs

Public safety reforms passed in 2011 will save the state $422 million over 10 years.

The Impact of Arizona's Probation Reforms

This May 2011 issue brief explored how Arizona’s innovative reforms have been able to show early signs of reducing the rate of prison growth while also making communities safer by decreasing crime by probationers.

State of Recidivism

More than four in ten offenders nationwide return to state prison within three years of their release despite a massive increase in state spending on prisons, according to this 2011 report.

The Revolving Door of America's Prisons

The correctional landscape varies dramatically in scale, policy and practice from state to state. Pew's analysis of state level data uncovered interesting findings related to prisoner releases and rates of recidivism in the past decade.

Kentucky: A Data-Driven Effort to Protect Public Safety and Control Corrections Spending

This 2010 brief by the Pew Center on the States explored why Kentucky's prison population expanded and detailed the steps state leaders were taking to contain correction costs while protecting public safety.

Pew Quantifies the Collateral Costs of Incarceration on the Economic Mobility of Former Inmates, Their Families, and Their Children

Incarceration reduces former inmates’ earnings by 40 percent and limits their future economic mobility, according to a new Pew report, Collateral Costs: Incarceration’s Effect on Economic Mobility.

Collateral Costs

Collateral Costs: Incarceration’s Effect on Economic Mobility was a collaborative effort between the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project and its Public Safety Performance Project (PSPP). The 2010 report examined the impact of incarceration on the economic opportunity and mobility of former inmates and their families.

Public Attitudes on Crime and Punishment

As part of the Public Safety Performance Project's work in the states to protect public safety and control corrections costs, we worked with two of the nation's leading polling firms, Public Opinion Strategies and the Benenson Strategy Group, to explore public attitudes toward crime and punishment.

South Carolina's Public Safety Reform

In 2010, South Carolina enacted a comprehensive package of sentencing and corrections legislation that puts the state at the forefront of states advancing research-driven criminal justice policies designed to produce a greater public safety return on corrections spending.

Arkansas: Improving Public Safety and Containing Corrections Costs

Arkansas's prison population is projected to grow by as much as 43 percent over the next decade. Building and operating new prisons to accommodate this growth will cost approximately $1.1 billion between 2010 and 2020. With the state prison system already at full capacity, Arkansas policy makers are considering data-driven alternatives that will contain prison growth and corrections spending while protecting public safety. This June 2010 report detailed the steps state leaders took to advance public safety policy solutions.

Prison Count 2010

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined, according to Prison Count 2010, a survey by the Pew Center on the States.

Hawaii's HOPE Program

Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program identifies probationers at high risk of violating the conditions of their community supervision, and deters them from using drugs and committing crimes with frequent and random drug tests backed up by swift, certain and short jail stays.

Summary of the Delaware State of the State Address

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) highlighted during his state of the state speech Jan. 20 his administration's efforts to curb state spending and promote jobs, and he promised to do more of the same.

The Impact of Hawaii's HOPE Program on Drug Use, Crime and Recidivism

New research on Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program shows that HOPE probationers served or were sentenced to an average of 48 percent fewer days in jail and prison.

Right-Sizing Prisons

In 2010, the Public Safety Performance Project asked business leaders at the forefront of these efforts to participate in a question and answer session on their approach to working with policy makers on public safety issues.

At Least 26 States Spend Less on Prisons

The recession is taking a dramatic toll on what had been one of the fastest-growing areas of state government spending: prisons. A new survey says corrections budgets are down in at least 26 states, with prison officials laying off workers or reducing their pay, eliminating vocational and other programs for inmates and granting some prisoners early release.

Maximum Impact: Targeting Supervision on Higher-Risk People, Places, and Times

This 2009 brief was part of a series of primers for policy makers about the critical choices they faced in developing strategies to improve the public safety return on taxpayer dollars.

Maximum Impact

This 2009 report explored how, at a time when states are facing historic budget deficits, state leaders can prevent a large share of the nation’s criminal activity and cut corrections costs.

Death Penalty Rift in States Continues

New Mexico on Wednesday (March 18) became the second state-after New Jersey in 2007-to repeal the death penalty since its reinstatment by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. But the modern landscape of capital punishment remains complex, as other states seek to reinstate or expand it and executions nationally are on track to reach their highest mark in 10 years.

One in 31

Explosive growth in the number of people on probation or parole has propelled the population of the American corrections system to more than 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 U.S. adults, according to a 2009 report.

Study Finds Disparity in Corrections Spending

States spend seven times more money on prisons than on probation and parole, even though the vast majority of the 7.3 million people now under correctional supervision are not behind bars, according to a Pew Center on the States report, the first detailed survey of state corrections spending since 2002.

Court Cuts Trigger Blunt Warnings

The budget emergency facing state governments has produced an uncommon alliance of advocates - from business leaders to public defenders and chief judges - who, in blunt terms, are urging state lawmakers not to slash funding for the courts.

New Laws Target Driving, Crime, Politicians

On Jan. 1, 2009 several new state laws will take effect, and Illinois politicians, California drivers and Arkansas' same-sex couples will be among those feeling the effects.

Policy Framework to Strengthen Community Corrections

This 2008 report discussed how states have added 1 million prison cells over the past 20 years, pushing the U.S. prison population to 2.3 million and the incarceration rate past 1 in 100 adults, by far the highest in the world.

Economy Could Imperil State Readiness

Budget cuts could undermine the progress states have made to respond to public health emergencies and natural disasters, such as the recent wildfires in California and outbreaks of Salmonella on tainted vegetables that sickened more than 1, 440 people in 43 states, says a new report released Dec. 9.

Putting Public Safety First

This 2008 report discussed how more than five million people are under community supervision—either probation or parole—on any given day in the United States.

Cash-Strapped N.J.: Pay up for State Police

Facing tough times financially, New Jersey recently started billing some of its smallest communities for a service they have enjoyed free for nearly 90 years: regular state police patrols that help towns without local police respond to crime, car accidents and other emergencies. Pennsylvania is considering doing the same.

Evaluation of HOPE Probation

Preliminary findings show that probationers assigned to a HOPE caseload perform significantly better than criminal offenders assigned to probation-as-usual.