Inmate Populations and Crime Rates Have Declined Over the Past Decade

• As of March 2019, approximately 66,685 inmates were held in 134 State and local correctional facilities, which include:
  • 54 State correctional facilities;
  • 63 county jail and correctional facilities; and
  • 17 New York City correctional facilities.

• Since March 2010, the total inmate population has declined by 20,357 (23.4 percent), with the majority of the decline occurring in State correctional facilities, followed by New York City correctional facilities.
• Over the last 10 years, the proportion of inmates aged 50 and over in State correctional facilities increased by 48.5 percent.

• From 2009 through 2018, New York has closed 16 State correctional facilities. The State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2019-20 Enacted Budget authorizes the closure of up to three State correctional facilities during the year. In May 2019, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision identified two such facilities for closure: Lincoln Correctional Facility in Manhattan and Livingston Correctional Facility in Livingston County, both of which closed on September 1, 2019.
• The SFY 2019-20 Enacted Budget eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony offenses, effective January 2020, providing for release on an individual’s own recognizance or with non-monetary conditions when deemed appropriate by a court.
• From 2010 to 2018,* the total number of crimes reported annually in New York State declined by 102,267 (22.7 percent). This trend reflects falling crime rates across most major categories of crimes.

Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility to 18

• Legislation included in the SFY 2017-18 Enacted Budget raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 16 to 17 years on October 1, 2018 and will raise it from 17 to 18 years on October 1, 2019.
• As a result, individuals aged 16 and 17 years committing non-violent crimes will no longer be processed as adults in the State’s criminal justice system and will instead receive rehabilitation services in age-appropriate facilities.
• Statewide, arrests of 16- and 17-year-olds for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies totaled 12,524 in 2018.

* 2018 data is preliminary.