3.9 MILLION PEOPLE ARE ON PROBATION OR PAROLE IN U.S.

A record 3.9 million people were on probation or parole in the United
States at the end of 1997, the Justice Department said yesterday.

The department's Bureau of Justice Statistics said that 110,000 people were
added to the total last year, a 2.9 percent increase. The average annual
increase has been 3 percent since 1990.

Each year has seen a record set because of increases in the number of
people moving through the criminal justice system since the 1980s.

By the end of 1997, nearly one out of every 35 adults in the United States
was in prison, in jail or on probation or parole - a total of 5.7 million
adults, or nearly 2.9 percent of the population, the department said.

Felony convictions accounted for 54 percent of the 3,261,888 adults on
probation at end of 1997. Another 28 percent had been convicted of
misdemeanors.

Driving while intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol accounted for
14 percent of the probationers and other offenses for 4 percent.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan