Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Prison Statistics Part 1 Crime, Justice & Security Statistics Produced in Collaboration between

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.

Prison Statistics

Part 1

Crime, Justice & Security Statistics

Produced in Collaboration between World Bank Institute and the Development Data Group (DECDG)


Relation to other Modules

• Prison Statistics do not exist on their own. They are closely related to statistics from other agencies of the justice system: especially the courts, the probation service and to the general principles for statistical governance.

• As a consequence, other Modules in this area could also be studied with benefit:– Module 1 (Governance)– Module 5 (Courts)– Module 6 (Probation)

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The Prison process

• Police catch those suspected of crimes: many suspects stay in prison until their trial: some are then found not guilty

• Courts find many offenders guilty and a high percentage of these are sent to prison: – Some will appeal against sentence and may succeed in their appeal.– The prison service has a duty to keep prisons safely and in humane

conditions– It also, in many countries, has a duty to keep prisoners employed as far

as possible and to try to rehabilitate them through training and treatment so they can lead socially productive lives on release.

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Types of Prison Statistics

Prison Statistics are more varied and wide ranging than those from most other agencies of the justice system. The following areas should be monitored:

1. Workload Statistics, which show the number of prisoners that the prison service has to deal with.

2. Conditions in prisons, which show how well the prison service is able to provide humane and secure conditions for the prisoners

3. Activity Statistics measuring what is provided for prisoners in the way of work, training and rehabilitation.

4. Resource Statistics, including staff, buildings, and equipment and production from workshops, factories, farms.

5. Outcome Statistics, which show what happens to prisoners once they leave prison, the number who lead productive lives, the number who re-offend

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Sources of Prison Statistics – Prisoner files

• Data-collection should be designed for the local prison. • Prison Staff will open a file for each new prisoner, which will form the

basis of the data collection. • Case files should contain information on

• Unique case identifier for each prisoner• Current status of prisoner (awaiting trial, awaiting appeal,

sentenced)• Offence accused of /convicted of • Length of sentence given and any conditions of sentence (eg

drug treatment or deportation after sentence) • Basic characteristics of each offender (eg. age and sex, tribe)• Training or work undertaken• Illness (eg AIDS)

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Sources of Prison Statistics - Other

There are other sources of prisons statistics in theregisters kept by prisons for different areas of theirwork, eg:

1. Security registers, including escapes, disciplines, visits to court2. Registers of Work shop activities and output3. Registers of Farm activities and output4. Registers of Medical services, illnesses, deaths,etc 5. Registers of Visits (either family or Inspections)

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Workload Statistics – General

• Workload Statistics show the amount of work that the prison has dealt with over a particular period

• This will involve all aspects of prison life: numbers of prisoners, by type: security, training, employment, discipline, escapes, health, overcrowding

• Data should be collected on a monthly basis from each prison • Statistics of numbers of staff employed should also be collected

with workload statistics.• Full counts are required, not any form of sample.

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Workload Statistics – Prison example: by length of sentence

Prison…….

Month……

Prisoner numbers at start of month

New prisoners

Those who left the prison permanently

Prison numbers at end of month

Awaiting trial

Sentenced

Under 1 year

1-5 years

5-10 years

Over 10 years

Those awaiting appeal result

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Workload Statistics – sentenced prisoners by offence/type

Prison….. Month ……

Young people Male adults Female adults

Homicide

Robbery

Assault

Theft

Motoring

Drugs…..

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Workload Statistics – Classifications

• The prison service needs to ensure that the classifications used are the same as those used by the police, the courts and the probation service

• This is to make sure that data can be compared uniformly across all agencies

• An example is the broad offence classification, which will need to be agreed at a Crime Statistics Committee usually chaired by the Central Statistical Office

• Also the characteristics of prisoners, such as age, sex, tribe, etc need to be consistent with the social data collected on the general population by the Central Statistical Office

• The procedure for this is covered in Module 1.

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Prison workload trends

National Data 2004 2005 2006 2007

Prisoners at start of year

New prisoners during year

Prisoners left during year

Prisoners at end of year

Prisoner son remand at end of year

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Statistics on Prison Conditions

Statistics on prison conditions show how well prisons are able to provide humane and secure conditions for the prisoners: eg:

1. Prison numbers compared with overall capacity

2. Prisoners suffering from health problems ( eg AIDS)

3. Incidents of prison indiscipline

4. Escapes or attempted escapes

5. Deaths in prison

6. Prisoners without proper clothing or accommodation

7. Number of prisoners who received visits

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Prison conditions collection form

Prison…….. End of Month……… Number

Prisoner Numbers

Total prison capacity

Prisoners suffering health problems

Incidents of prison indiscipline during month

Escapes/attempted escapes during month

Deaths in prison during month

Prisoners without proper clothing, etc

Prisoners who received family visits during month

Number of visits of Inspectors, Judges, etc.

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Statistics on Prison Activities

• A key measure of prison life is whether a regime is provided for prisoners which enables them to live as normal a life as possible, while still being confined to prison

• This requires monitoring prisoners access to such things as: employment training, treatment programmes (eg for Drug misuse), workshops or farms or education facilities

• Those not engaged on any activities would also be counted.

• Sample data would be obtained from registers kept in these areas.

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Prison Activities collection form

Prison……. June ……. Number

Prisoners receiving employment training

Prisoners attending educational programmes

Prisoners working in workshops

Prisoners working on prison farms

Prisoners on drug treatment programmes

Prisoners on other treatment programmes

Prisoners not engaged on any activities

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Documents

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Prison Statistics Part 1 Crime, Justice & Security Statistics Produced in Collaboration between