Crime

According to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice, it is still hard to pinpoint the most substantial cause of crime reduction in the last two decades. Based on researchers’ findings, however, we do know what wasn’t responsible: mass incarceration.

Over a 23-year period, 1990-2013, the country’s overall crime rate plummeted, but incarceration accounted for less than 10 percent of the drop. Between 1990-1999, violent crimes such as murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and non-negligent manslaughter dropped 28 percent, as the incarceration rate skyrocketed by 60 percent. In the subsequent 13 years, violent crime dropped another 27 percent, but the incarceration rate rose by a mere 1 percent. 

It’s Hard To Say What Caused A Huge Drop In Crime, But It’s Not Mass Incarceration