NCJ Number
97579
Date Published
1984
Length
67 pages
Annotation
This report presents figures and data tables on the criminal processing of adults arrested for felonies in California in 1983.
Abstract
The data came from the Offender-Based Transaction Statistics system, which describes the processing of adults from initial encounter with the police through final disposition. The report shows the decisions made at various levels of the California criminal justice system as they relate to different offenses, offenders, and county population groups. Charts describe variables such as the offense committed, the offender's demographic characteristics, and the population of the county of arrest. Highlights include a fairly stable rate of about 44-percent nonconvictions and an increase in prosecutor complaints denied from 1978 through 1983. Lower court dismissals and acquittals have dropped in the same period. The conviction rate has remained fairly stable and was 55.5 percent in 1983. Sentences to State institutions increased from 6.1 percent to 8.7 percent, probation sentences decreased to 11.7 percent, and sentences of probation or jail increased to 29.6 percent of total dispositions. Numerous charts and graphs of the data are provided, along with 15 tables.