NCJ Number
200001
Date Published
January 2003
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This 2003 annual report from the Connecticut Prison and Jail Overcrowding Commission presents an overview of the state of the correctional system and offers 12 recommendations for improvements.
Abstract
Section I of the report presents an overview of the state of the Connecticut prison system. Overall, rates of crime in the State have decreased; index crimes were down 38 percent from 1992 to 2001, violent index crime rates were down 32 percent during the same period, and property index crimes were down 39 percent from 1992. Arrest rates increased during both 2000 and 2001, after declining between 1992 and 2000. Drug arrests for persons 16 years and older increased 5 percent from 2000 to 2001. Overall, crime and incarceration rates were lower in Connecticut than in the Nation as a whole: total index crimes were 25 percent lower; property crime was 24 percent lower; violent crime was 33 percent lower; and the incarceration rate was 18 percent lower than the rate in the Nation as a whole. An overview of the Connecticut correctional system is presented, including information concerning offender supervision, the parole population, facilities, transitional supervision, the Board of Parole, and the Court Support Services of the Judicial Branch. Offender programs are also presented in Section I. Section II of the report presents 12 recommendations for improvements in the correctional system. These include a provision to allow at least 1,000 Connecticut inmates to be moved to facilities in Virginia, the expansion of facilities and the replacement of older housing, funding for a 110-bed facility for female inmates, a review of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, enhancement of services and resources for offenders with mental health problems, enhancement of the Jail Re-interview Program, an increase in probation staff, the maintenance of manageable parole caseloads, and a partnership with Federal agencies for the housing of offenders.