Who are Our Returning Citizens?

A disproportionate amount of prisoners are in the US

As of 2020, California had a total of 122,417 prisoners, and New York had a total of 43,439 (World Population Review, 2022). As of 2022, the entire country of Canada had a total prison population of 14,022 with one of the lowest incarceration rates in the world (Statista Research Department, 2022).

Disproportionate amount of US prisoners are African American men

The imprisonment rate for African American men is 4,236 per 100,000 people—ten times the imprisonment rate for white men, which is 422 per 100,000 (Public Policy Institute of California, 2019). 

• The average male prisoner is almost 40 years old (Public Policy Institute of California, 2019).

• The most common crimes that led to imprisonment in 2017 involved assault, weapons, or robbery, all of which are serious and violent crimes (Public Policy Institute of California, 2019).

Resources

Public Policy Insitute of California. (2019, July). California’s Prison Population. Retrieved from PPIC – Public Policy Institute of California: https://www.ppic.org/publication/californias-prison-population/

Statista Research Department. (2022, February 4). Correctional Services in Canada – Statistics & Facts. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/topics/2935/correctional-services-in-canada/#dossierKeyfigures

World Population Review. (2022). Prison Population by State. Retrieved from World Population Review: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/prison-population-by-state