Prison Population & Crime Rates

By:Tori Brandon

Eng.110

If the Prison Population and Build-up has increased, then how has Nationwide Crime Rates
gone down? Also is the Crime Rates dropping a good or bad outcome for everyone?

Violent crimes in 2019 have dropped 3.1% worldwide. In the U.S. Property crimes have decreased 5.6
percent, even Arson crime rates plummeted a 12.5% since 2018. Worldwide crimes have come down a
descent amount compared to 2017 and now. With Crime rates going down, you would think so would
the Prison Population. But as of late you would be wrong. From 1980-2015 they number of Inmates have
gone from an average of 25,000 to over 205,000. The average of inmate population annually increased
to 5,900.

Nationwide the average costs to send someone to prison per year totals about 31,000 and even in some
states up to about 60,000 per year. That’s about if not more than the amount to send someone to
college. Some inmates are incarcerated for minor and or non-violent crimes like robbery or possession of
intoxicants such as marijuana. A man in Alabama is serving life sentence for stealing 9 dollars without
being eligible for parole, he committed the crime at the age of 25.

It's an outrage, there is Prison build up because it is filled with minor crime offenders instead of serious
criminals. Non-violent crime rates have gone down nationwide but violent crime rates have not, and
prison build up has increased because of the many violent convictions and over sentencing as well as not
allowing people to be eligible for parole. It is good for crime rates to go down but it's not always a good
outcome for everyone like lawyers, judges, bail bondsmen, and people with jobs within the law and
criminal justice criteria.
References: Christopher Wray/Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, (Jan-Jun 2019) Preliminary
Semiannual Uniform Crime Reports. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/preliminary-report

WBRC-TV news in Birmingham, AL/Black Enterprise, (Jan,2020) This Alabama Man Is Serving a Life
Sentence for Stealing $9 in 1982. https://www.blackenterprise.com/alabama-man-serving-life-sentence-
stealing-9-dollars/

Nathan James/ National Institute of Corrections (2013) The Federal Prison Population Buildup:
Overview, Policy, Changes, Issues, and Options. https://nicic.gov/federal-prison-population-buildup-
overview-policy-changes-issues-and-options

Eliza Mills (May 19, 2017) Market Place, how much does it cost to send someone to prison?
https://www.marketplace.org/2017/05/19/how-much-does-it-cost-send-someone-prison/