NCJ Number
117825
Date Published
1989
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Data were collected on all inmate infractions throughout the Washington State prison system, using the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board and/or the Offender Based Tracking System for calendar year 1985.
Abstract
During 1985 there were 13,360 serious infractions recorded on 3,437 male offenders, for an average of 3.9 infractions per infractee (an average of 1.4 infractions per total inmates). Sixty percent of infracting offenders were incarcerated for violent crimes; this was approximately the same percentage of violent offenders in the total prison population. Offenders aged 21-26 accounted for half of all infractious inmates. Approximately 30 percent of all infractions involved either the possession of alcohol or drugs, interferences with staff, or threats against other inmates; almost 40 percent of all infractions were written on infractees while they were in their cells or living units. Half of all infractions were incurred by infractees who had served 2 years or less in prison; more than two-thirds of the infractees carried a minimum sentence of over 4 years. The study indicates that a small number of offenders were responsible for a disproportionately large number of infractions. 15 tables.