Prison Population
Return to Public Safety issues page.
The LATEST
-
April 1, 2010
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. more
-
January 7, 2010
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.
more -
July 17, 2009
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.
more -
December 15, 2008
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. more
-
July 28, 2008
Getting in Sync
Some offenders need to be put in prison. Others can be managed safely on probation in the community. This 2008 report looks at how judges and prosecutors often face the difficult task of figuring out what to do with defendants who don’t fit cleanly into either group.
more -
February 28, 2008
One in 100
A 2008 report by Pew's Public Safety Performance Project detailed how, for the first time in history, more than one in every 100 adults in America were in jail or prison—a fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety.
more -
January 31, 2008
Changing Direction
Despite having built more than 100,000 prison beds in the 1980s and ‘90s, Texas was looking at a 17,000-bed shortfall by 2012 at an additional cost of $900 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. more
-
November 19, 2007
When Offenders Break the Rules
This 2007 report outlines how innovative policy makers are safely and cost-effectively managing a leading driver of prison admissions: parolees and probationers who break the rules of their community supervision.
more -
November 16, 2007
What Works in Community Corrections
Dr. Joan Petersilia is one of the nation’s most respected experts on community corrections. In 2007, she spoke with Pew’s Public Safety Performance Project about what policy makers should know about the research on these critical programs.
more -
November 14, 2007
You Get What You Measure
This 2007 report outlines how, as parole and probation agencies heed the call to manage for results, they are looking to models like the New York City Police Department’s Compstat program. more