NCJ Number
161273
Journal
Caseload Highlights Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (April 1996) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
National trends in arrests for serious crime, felony filings, and prison commitments are described, and statistics and descriptions of changes in arrest policies and sentencing legislation are presented for California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington.
Abstract
These jurisdictions were chosen to provide a balance of geographic, economic, and social diversity, as well as to allow comparisons over the 11-year period. The data reveal that nationally, the rate of felony filings per 100,000 adults increased 53 percent during the study period, largely as a result of increased arrests and prosecutions of drug offenders. Probation admissions, the most common sanction, increased 50 percent from 1984 to 1990 before falling 17 percent through 1994. Approximately 54 percent of these probation admissions followed a felony conviction. After increasing 81 percent from 1984 to 1990, the rate of new prison commitments for adults has remained relatively stable. However, the aggregate numbers mask the different patterns of growth experienced by individual States. Figures