CRIMELINESTHE 20 YEAR STORY OF CRIME & INCARCERATION
WEAPONS ARREST RATE 80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
DRUG ARREST RATE700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
VIOLENT CRIME OFFENSE RATE 700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
PROPERTY CRIME OFFENSE RATE 4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
MURDER
RAPE
ROBBERY
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
BURGLARY
LARCENY
MOTOR VEHICLE
THEFT
303.1PA Prison Pop. Rate 354.6 396.9325.1 403.7299.7 390.9 385.7330.1 400.9303.4 366.4 390.4329.8 405.2308.9 406.5 378.7 369.9340.9 403.2
3,273PA 2,882 2,2452,841 2,5392,995 2,820 2,0592,826 2,5153,113 2,777 2,1272,829 2,5772,961 2,582 1,962 1,7952,841 2,396
rime rates in Pennsylvania have consistently dropped over the past twenty years, by 45 percent. Further, crime rates in Pennsylvania have
remained consistently lower than the national crime rates. These crime drops have happened within the context of a variety of events over the past twenty years in the Pennsylvania criminal justice system. Crime dropped under different administrations, under the openings and closings of prison facilities, after the passage of various criminal justice legislative reforms, and in the absence of many mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Crime also dropped during the same six year period (2012-2018) that the prison population dropped in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania prison population dropped by 4,387 inmates from its peak in June 2012, while at the same time crime dropped 29 percent. Crime also dropped for a variety individual crime types, including violent crimes and property crimes. Murder and rape are two exceptions. The murder rate and rape rate have increased in recent years in Pennsylvania, although in the case of rape this reflects a change in the definition of reporting for rape and also mirrors a large national increase in rape. The bottom line is that that Pennsylvanians are overall significantly safer today than they were twenty years ago.
SOURCE: The data in this report come from two sources. The crime data comes from the F.B.I.’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR). The prison population data comes from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC). Crime and incarceration rates per capita are produced by using U.S. Census Bureau estimates of the Pennsylvania population.
C
5,000
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
1998 2006 20142002 20102000 2008 20162004 20121999 2007 20152003 20112001 2009 2017 20182005 2013
Dalla
s Es
cape
s;
Hunt
ingd
on E
scap
e
Jeff
Bear
d as
sum
es p
ositi
on
as S
ecre
tary
of C
orre
ctio
ns
SCI W
ayne
sbur
g cl
oses
SCI F
ayet
te o
pens
SCI F
ores
t ope
ns
Stat
e In
term
edia
te
Puni
shm
ent (
SIP)
pro
gram
beg
ins
SCI P
ittsb
urg
re-o
pens
SCI A
lbio
n Es
cape
; Par
ole
Mor
ator
ium
;
Corre
ctio
ns R
efor
m B
ill
Corre
ctio
ns R
efor
m B
ill
John
Wet
zel a
ssum
es p
ositi
on a
s
Secr
etar
y of C
orre
ctio
ns
Just
ice
Rein
vest
men
t (JR
I) pa
sses
; DOC
pop
ulat
ion
peak
s at
51,
757
inm
ates
SCI C
ress
on a
nd S
CI G
reen
sbur
g cl
ose;
SCI
Ben
ner T
owns
hip
open
s;
U.S.
Sup
rem
e Co
urt d
ecis
ion
(Alle
yne)
inva
lidat
ing
man
dato
ry m
inim
ums
PA S
upre
me
Cour
t dec
isio
n (H
opki
ns)
inva
lidat
ing
man
dato
ry m
inim
ums
SCI P
ittsb
urgh
clo
ses;
agr
eem
ent t
o m
erge
paro
le s
uper
visi
on u
nder
DOC
SCI P
hoen
ix op
ens
INDEX CRIME RATE (OFFENSES PER 100,000 POPULATION)
Pennsylvania PA Prison Population Rate
4,615USA 3,808 2,9714,118 3,3454,124 3,667 2,8473,982 3,2464,266 3,730 2,8704,063 3,2954,160 3,465 2,756 2,5803,899 3,107
United States
