NUMBER OF PROBATIONERS, PAROLEES AT RECORD HIGH

The number of people on parole or probation reached a record 4.5 million in
1999, the Justice Department announced yesterday. The biggest increase is
in probationers, reflecting a rise in drug arrests and a decline in the
number of drug offenders sent to prison.

Twenty-four percent of the people on probation were convicted of drug
offenses and 18 percent were given probation for drunken driving.

"What we've seen is a 30 percent decline in the likelihood of going to
prison for a drug arrest over the last decade," Justice Department
statistician Allen J. Beck said. "So even though we've had an increase in
drug arrests, the flow into prisons has stabilized."

More than 1 million of the nation's probationers and parolees were in two
states. Texas had 556,410 and California 446,460. States with the largest
percentages of their adult population under community supervision were
Georgia, with 5.8 percent, and Idaho, with 4.2 percent.

The parolees and probationers are part of the burgeoning population that is
under correctional supervision in the wake of a national movement to crack
down on crime, Justice Department officials said. States have built new
prisons, toughened sentencing standards and increased options for community
supervision.

Overall, the number of people under correctional supervision stands at an
all-time high of 6.3 million, with 1.86 million men and women behind bars
in June 1999. The number has climbed every year for a decade. New figures
will be released next month.

"The scope of the criminal justice system has increased substantially over
20 years," Beck said. "It went from a little over 1 percent of the adult
population back in 1980 to now up over 3 percent of all adults. That's one
out of every 32 adults."

Despite a decline in violent crime, arrests for simple assaults were up by
28 percent between 1990 and 1999; arrests for forgery, fraud and
embezzlement increased 37 percent; and arrests for drug use and sale rose
34 percent. The three types of convictions disproportionately result in
sentences of probation, which allow offenders to avoid prison or jail but
remain under supervision in the community.

After a steady increase in the 1980s, the parole population last decade
stabilized at around 700,000, which Beck said reflects a drop in prison
release rates and longer lengths of stay.

There were more women on probation (22 percent of the total) and parole (12
percent) in 1999 than in 1990. Blacks were more than one-third of
probationers and nearly half of parolees. Almost two-thirds of probationers
and more than half of parolees were white. Hispanics, who may be of any
race, were 16 percent of probationers and 21 percent of parolees.

The study and other information about the nation's correctional population
may be found at the Justice Department Web site: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.