NCJ Number
177231
Date Published
1998
Length
119 pages
Annotation
This sixth biennial census of New Zealand prison inmates collates data on the prison population as of November 20, 1997; also included is an analysis of some characteristics of prison inmates over the past decade.
Abstract
An increase in the number of both male and female prison inmates since the previous census follows the general trend since the first census in 1987. On the day of the 1997 census, there were 5,464 inmates; 4,728 sentenced and 516 remand male inmates; and 207 sentenced and 13 remand female inmates. The increase in male sentenced inmates between 1995 and 1997 was 19 percent; the increase for female sentenced inmates was nearly double this at 37 percent. Overall, however, female inmates composed only 4 percent of the prison population in 1997. One in five inmates was 40 years old or older. The majority of offenders in New Zealand's prisons have committed serious offenses. Fifty-seven percent of male sentenced inmates have committed some type of violent offense, with the most common being offenses of aggravated robbery, rape, unlawful sexual connection, murder, and injuring or wounding. Property offenders were the second highest group, accounting for 20 percent of male sentenced inmates. Most have committed serious offenses and have a long record of previous convictions. Traffic offenders accounted for 10 percent of male sentenced inmates. Most traffic offenders in prison have committed the most serious of traffic offenses, such as causing death or injury or drunk driving, or they are persistent recidivists repeatedly convicted of driving while having a suspended license. Most of the offenders in prison for other than violent, property, or traffic offenses are drug dealers. The increase in the prison population has primarily resulted from a significant increase in the number of convictions for violent and other serious offenses. This has led to a greater proportion of inmates serving longer sentences. The percentage of male sentenced inmates serving determinate sentences of more than 5 years nearly doubled from 14 percent in 1989 to 27 percent in 1997. Over the same period, the percentage serving life imprisonment and preventive detention sentences also increased, from 6 percent to 8 percent. 91 tables, 3 figures, 13 references, and appended sources of information, age at which people can be prosecuted and convicted, and data collection forms