Because most arrests are not for serious crimes but for
offenses like drug possession, public drunkenness, and disorderly conduct, many
cases could be handled effectively by other means and thus not contribute to
the nation’s mass incarceration, Vera suggested.
“To chart a new course in American policing, police should
use arrest sparingly,
intentionally, and transparently,” declared the report.
intentionally, and transparently,” declared the report.
The effect of arrests on incarceration is particularly
noticeable in local jails, which held 745,200 inmates as of mid-2017, only a
small number lower than the total in 2005.
Citing data from the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Justice
Statistics, Vera said that for every 100 arrests the nation’s 18,000 police
departments made in 2016, there were 99 admissions to jail.
This compares with a much lower ratio 25 years ago, when
there were 70 jail admissions for every 100 arrests.
Rates of reported crime have dropped sharply during that
period, indicating that police these days are more likely to make an arrest in
a typical case.
As the report puts it, “Police enforcement has become an
expressway to jail.”
The high arrest totals have an especially severe impact on
minorities. In
2016, black people were arrested at more than twice the rate of whites, approximately 5,313 and 2,444 per 100,000, respectively.
2016, black people were arrested at more than twice the rate of whites, approximately 5,313 and 2,444 per 100,000, respectively.
That disparity has been consistent for 15 years.
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