Criminals

In a recent group discussion, the subject moved to public safety. What could be done to make neighborhoods safer. One person suggested that putting criminals in jail would help. That was reinforced when it was noted that most crime is committed by repeat offenders. Later in researching this, the facts were startling. While the overall rate varies by definition and jurisdiction, studies from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) show that about 66% of state prisoners are re-arrested within three years of their release. More broadly, a significant proportion of the prison population consists of repeat offenders, with some studies indicating that over 90% of state prisoners have either prior violent offenses or previous nonviolent convictions.