The Bureau of Justice Statistics, today released this 25-page report titled “Federal Prisoner Statistics Collected Under the First Step Act, 2024,” which is described as “the sixth in a series as required under the First Step Act of 2018.” Here is the report’s introduction and some of the listed “Key findings” that seemed most interesting to me (from a detailed two-page list):
The First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), through its National Prisoner Statistics program, to collect data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) on specific topics and to report these data annually.1 BJS is required to report on selected characteristics of persons in prison, including marital, veteran, citizenship, and English-speaking status; education levels; medical conditions; and participation in treatment and rehabilitation programs. In addition, BJS is required to report facility-level statistics, such as the number of assaults on staff by prisoners; prisoners’ violations of rules that resulted in time credit reductions; and selected facility characteristics, including accreditation, on-site healthcare, remote learning, video conferencing, and costs of prisoners’ phone calls.
Collected in 2024, the statistics in this report are for calendar year 2023, the fifth full year of reporting under the FSA. Data for calendar year 2024 will be available from the FBOP in 2025. Unless otherwise noted, all counts in this report include persons held in federal correctional facilities operated by the FBOP (122 institutional facilities).
Key findings:
- The federal prison population decreased about 2% from yearend 2022 (158,637) to yearend 2023 (155,972)
- At yearend 2023, there were 8,388 persons with prior military service in FBOP facilities, accounting for more than 5% of the total federal prison population.
- The number of non-U.S. citizens in federal prison at yearend 2023 was 22,817, down from 2021 (24,031) and 2022 (24,078).
- In 2023, the average daily population in special housing units, where individuals are securely separated from the general inmate population, was 11,974, an 18% increase from 2022 (10,177).
- In 2023, FBOP staff were physically assaulted by federal prisoners 872 times, which resulted in serious injury 6 times and prosecution of prisoners 3 times (table 7).
- The FBOP had partnerships with 3,047 external groups to provide recidivism reduction programming in 118 federal prison facilities in 2023.
- About 57% (1,747) of the FBOP’s partnerships to provide recidivism reduction programming were with faith-based groups in 2023.
- About 54% of the 143,291 persons in federal prison who had been assessed with the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN) as of December 31, 2023, were classified as minimum or low risk for recidivism.
- About 26% of federal prisoners were classified by PATTERN as high risk for recidivism and about 19% as medium risk at yearend 2023.
- About 82% of female federal prisoners assessed with PATTERN by yearend 2023 were classified as minimum or low risk for recidivism, compared to 52% of male federal prisoners.
- As of December 31, 2023, about 60% of black and 58% of American Indian or Alaska Native federal prisoners were classified by PATTERN as having a medium or high risk of recidivism, compared to about 36% of white and 25% of Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander federal prisoners.
- At yearend 2023, 83% of federal prisoners ages 55 to 64 and 94% of those age 65 or older were classified by PATTERN as having a minimum or low risk of recidivism.