Managing a Growing Prison Population

The United States’ prison population has been growing steadily for years—from about 1.5 million in 1995 to almost 7.2 million in 2006. As the prison population grew, so did concerns about prison capacity, particularly with regard to prisoners continuing criminal activities while in prison by becoming members of violent gangs or terrorist groups via religious radicalization—a problem that could further escalate as prisoners are released back into the community. Within DOJ, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure. Additionally, BOP along with the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provide programs that help inmates successfully re-enter society once they have served their time to increase public safety and reduce the rate at which they return to crime (recidivism). DOJ has, and will continue to face, the kinds of challenges highlighted in dealing with this growing issue:

• DOJ’s Inspector General identified that the department has continuing management challenges in meeting its goal of providing a safe, secure, and humane confinement environment with sufficient and economical prison and detention space; properly trained correction officers; and appropriate management of high-risk inmates to protect the public from further criminal activities.

  Top Management and Performance Challenges in the Department of Justice - 2008

• As reported in 2007, due to projections of future growth of inmate populations—BOP expects the federal prison population to continue to grow by 5,000 inmates per year and projects that by 2012, its facilities will experience an overcrowding rate of 28 percent—BOP will need to continue to acquire additional capacity. However, deciding what to do in response to this need will be difficult because BOP does not have the data necessary to do a methodologically sound cost comparison of its various alternatives for confining inmates, such as contracting with private companies, building new facilities, buying existing facilities, or expanding facilities,

Highlights of GAO-08-6 (PDF)

• DOJ is not positioned to demonstrate which criminal justice programs are effective alternatives for stabilizing or reducing the growth of prison populations. For example, although empirical research on drug court programs—which are funded by federal grants—had historically been limited, our review of various evaluation studies demonstrated that drug court programs can be an effective means to help some individuals reduce substance abuse problems and lessen recidivism compared to criminal justice alternatives, such as probation. Nonetheless, over the last several years, DOJ’s Inspector General has reported that DOJ has yet to develop consistent mechanisms to measure grant effectiveness and assess how effectively funds are being spent.

  Highlights of GAO-05-219 (PDF)
  Top Management and Performance Challenges in the Department of Justice - 2008

• GAO’s ongoing work to assess federal efforts to address gang violence has identified concern within the law enforcement community that the United States faces a problem with the growth and proliferation of prison gangs, which then extend into communities and pose threats to their security.

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

• To manage its growing prison capacity, BOP needs to conduct methodologically sound analyses that compare the cost of privately contracted facilities, building new facilities, buying existing facilities, or expanding facilities.

  Highlights of GAO-08-6 (PDF)

^ Back to topKey Reports

Department Of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report, Office of the Inspector General Top Management and Performance Challenges in the Department of Justice; 2008

(Washington D.C.: Nov. 12, 2008).

Top Management and Performance Challenges in the Department of Justice - 2008

Cost of Prisons: Bureau of Prisons Needs Better Data to Assess Alternatives for Acquiring Low and Minimum Security Facilities

GAO-08-6, October 5, 2007

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 39 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)

Adult Drug Courts: Evidence Indicates Recidivism Reductions and Mixed Results for Other Outcomes

GAO-05-219, February 28, 2005

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 86 pages)   Accessible Text

Congressional Research Service, Offender Reentry: Correctional Statistics, Reintegration into the Community, and Recidivism,

(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 17, 2007).

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