Digest
Recidivism in Connecticut
WHAT IS RECIDIVISM?
· Public safety failure rate
· New crime by convicted felony inmates and probationers
· Measured by rates of rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration
WHAT IS RATE OF RECIDIVISM?
· 70% of inmates and 58% of probationers rearrested within three years
· Less than one-quarter of each group returned to prison for a new crime
HOW DO RATES VARY AMONG GROUPS?
· Inmates more likely to be rearrested
· Inmates committed more crimes per offender than probationers
· Inmates, in general, committed more serious crimes
HOW DO RATES VARY AMONG CATEGORIES OF OFFENDERS?
· Males had significantly higher rates of recidivism
· Young, minority offenders rearrested more often
· Property offenders commit more new crime, more frequently, and more likely to "specialize"
· Community supervision lowered rate of rearrest among inmates
WHAT TYPES OF NEW CRIMES ARE COMMITTED?
· Inmates and probationers did not "specialize" in certain type of crime
· Most new crime was nonviolent, less serious felonies and misdemeanors
· Property and drug crimes are linked
· Property and drug offenders more likely to recommit same crime
· Violent offenders least likely to recommit another violent crime
IS RECIDIVISM RELATED TO OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS?
· Age, race, and gender significant predictors of rearrest
· Serious drug problem indicator of rearrest but not new drug crime
· Primary offense and sentence length affect recidivism rate among inmates
· Not a strong relationship between program participation and rearrest
· Young, male, minority, property offenders most likely to recidivate
RECOMMENDATION
1. The Division of State Police, within the Department of Public Safety, shall begin to track and analyze the rates of rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration of felony and misdemeanor offenders on a yearly basis. The division shall:
· analyze criminal history data currently stored in its Bureau of Identification repository and the statewide offender-based tracking data repository to examine and report on the patterns and trends among offenders who repeatedly commit new crimes;
· define recidivism, for the purposes of the analysis, as new criminal activity by a person after a prior criminal conviction that resulted in either imprisonment or another sanction, and shall include both inmates and probationers;
· use multiple measure of recidivism -- rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration -- in conducting the analysis; and
· beginning in 2003, include the recidivism analysis and findings in the annual Crime in Connecticut report, which shall be submitted to the General Assembly, all executive and judicial branch criminal justice agencies, and the Prison and Jail Overcrowding Commission.