FACTS

THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX (PIC)

  • The United States has 5% of the world’s population but over 25% of the world’s prison population
  • There are over 2.2 million people incarcerated in prisons and jails across the country
  • There are 33 state prisons in California alone
  • Since 1980 California has built 23 jails and one university
  • 6.9 million people in the United States are either incarcerated or under some form of state enforced supervision
  • Black people make up 12% of the Unites States population and 37% of the US prison population
  • Latinos make up 17% of the United States population and 22% of the US prison population
  • Black women are 22% of the population of incarcerated women in the United States, Latina women make up 17%
  • As of September 2014 the California prison system was overcrowded at 140% capacity
  • It costs $60,000 a year to incarcerate one person in prison

 

LA JAILS

  • Los Angeles County has the largest jail system in the world
  • There is an average of 17,500 prisoners in the county jail system on any given day
  • The Los Angeles Jail system is ran by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the largest sheriff’s department in the country
  • 80% of those incarcerated in the Los Angeles County Jail system are Black and Latino
  • Black people make 30% of the County Jail population
  • Latinos make up 50% of county Jail population

 

SHERIFF VIOLENCE

  • In 2012 the Citizens Commission on Jail Violence confirmed that there was “long standing culture of pattern violence against inmates”
  • In 2012 57% of force incidents were initiated by sheriff custody personnel
  • The sheriff’s department has a history of using a “force-first” policy to establish authority as opposed to a last resort
  • In 2015 there was a 40% increase in use of force in the county jail system

 

CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARD

  • There are civilian oversight bodies of law enforcement agencies in over 140 cities across the nation
  • Several civilian oversight bodies across the country have subpoena power including: Albuquerque, Berkeley, Boise, San Francisco, and many others
  • San Diego County changed its county charter to grant its civilian oversight body subpoena power
  • Los Angeles County is largest jail system in the world with no independent civilian oversight body implemented

 

MENTAL HEALTH IN JAILS

  • Suicide is leading cause of death in jails across the country
  • The Department of Justice has issued a consent decree over the Los Angeles Jail system because the treatment living conditions of the mental health population have been deemed “unconstitutional”
  • People with mental health conditions are three times as likely to experience abuse while incarcerated
  • Twin Towers is considered one of the three largest mental health facilities in the United States.
  • 64% of those held in jail across the country have mental health conditions
  • Incarceration doubles the possibility that someone with no previous mental health history will develop a mood disorder such chronic anxiety, major depression, or bi-polar

 

WOMEN IN JAILS

  • As of April 2013 there were 2,570 women in LA County jail system
  • 39% of women in county jail system are Latina, 35% are Black
  • In 2014 there was a 47% increase in use of force in the CRDF, the women’s jail