CENTER ON JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PRESS RELEASE
		www.cjcj.org

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Unprecedented Drop in California Youth Crime and Incarceration Rates: Lowest Level of Imprisoned Youth in Modern State History

CONTACT: Daniel Macallair, (415) 722-1191
Megan Corcoran, (415) 446-8092
Stephanie Ong, (415) 786-5568

Sacramento - On Wednesday, June 28th, at 11:00am in the Governor's Press Room at the State Capitol, the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) will release a new study showing California's youth crime at its lowest level in almost 30 years and youth incarceration rates are the lowest in modern state history. Data gathered from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Department of Justice show that the state's youth incarceration rate declined from a 1980 rate of 170 per 100,000 to a 2004 rate of 91. During the same period, the youth violent crime arrest rate declined from 556 per 100,000 to 348.

"The simultaneous declines in youth crime and incarceration defy the popular assumptions that have driven California sentencing policy for 25 years", said CJCJ Executive Director and report coauthor, Daniel Macallair. "For more than two decades California crime policy has been based on the belief that the more people you had in prison the less crime you have on the street. This research found no evidence to support this argument. In fact at the same time youth crime and incarceration rates were falling to historically low levels, an unprecedented 500% increase in adult imprisonment produced no reductions in crime rates."

The major findings contained in the report include:

· California's per capita adult imprisonment rate increased five-fold since 1980, from 137 per 100,000 residents to 689 per 100,000 residents in 2006.

· From 1980 through 2004, despite a 500 percent increase in adult imprisonment rates, the adult violent crime rate actually increased by 11 percent.

· California's current juvenile crime rates, including youth arrested for homicide, violent crime, and property crime, are among the lowest recorded since 1960.

· As of 2006, the commitment rate to California's youth corrections system was 65 per 100,000. The lowest recorded commitment rate in its six decade history.

· Over the past 11 years, commitments to California's youth corrections system fell by 75%, the fastest decline in its six-decade history.

· Although commitments to California's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities have declined, there are major disparities in county commitment patterns. Between 2002 and 2004, Monterey County, with a youth population 51,500, had 764 juvenile felony arrests and sent 120 youths to DJJ facilities. By contrast, Orange County with a youth population of 369,000 recorded 3,293 felony arrests and sent only 114 youths to DJJ facilities.

· Despite sizeable differences in county commitment rates, youth crime rates fell in all counties regardless of DJJ commitments. Counties with high DJJ commitment rates experienced a 40% decrease in crime rates while counties with low DJJ commitment rates experienced a 42% decline.

"This report gives further confirmation of what we already know-locking our young people up and throwing away the key is not the answer," said Assemblyman Mark Leno, Chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. "Public safety would be better served by reforming our failed sentencing and parole systems. By providing rehabilitation programs we can assist inmates in successfully rejoining their families."

CJCJ is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that offers policy analysis, program development, and technical assistance in the criminal justice field.

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