Colorado sees post-pandemic spike in its prison population
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Colorado had the third-highest prison population increase in the country between 2021 and 2022, according to a recent U.S. Department of Justice report.
Why it matters: Colorado's drop in prison population prompted by the pandemic has now fully recovered, according to local experts, who had wondered whether the lower rates would remain.
What they're saying: "The answer to that has been pretty obviously, no," University of Denver criminology associate professor Michael C. Campbell tells us.
- As the pandemic took hold in 2020, prisons in Colorado were encouraged to release low-level offenders and courts were processing fewer cases, Campbell says.
By the numbers: The Centennial State's 8.2% rise in inmates between 2021 and 2022 was topped only by Mississippi (+14.3%) and Montana (+8.8%).
State of play: University of Colorado Denver criminology assistant professor Vivian Aranda-Hughes says the state's population growth, increased drug use and violent crime rates during that span factored into the increase.
- Campbell had a similar view for its causes, though he called it ironic that more people were imprisoned despite the state Legislature recently passing bills attempting to keep people out of prison.
Yes, but: 17,168 people were in state or federal prisons in Colorado in 2022, per the DOJ's data — a significant drop from the 23,274 people in the state's peak year in 2008. Data has been tracked since 1978.
- Colorado's total number of incarcerated people in 2022 ranks among the lowest in the country.
The big picture: The U.S. prison population rose 2.1% between 2021 and 2022, marking "the first increase in the combined state and federal prison population in almost a decade," a recent DOJ report found.
- It remains extremely high compared to the years before the Nixon-era "war on drugs" and "tough on crime" politics took hold.
What's next: Campbell says he's interested in seeing whether further policy changes will help reduce inmate numbers.
- State lawmakers this session considered multiple bills to help people with reentry, including a failed measure that sought to give those being released a $3,000 stipend.