II. The State of Supervision

Supervision is the basis of community corrections.

But supervision, particularly for probationers, has not received sufficient attention as a tool of public safety or offender change. Yet, the size and scope of the supervision population-an estimated 6.7 million adults or nearly 80 percent of the correctional population-should place supervision in the forefront of any recidivism reduction strategy (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003).

Supervision is important because:
More American adults are under community supervision than any other form of correctional control.

As the country's prison population exploded over the past 15 years, so did the number of people on probation and parole. At the end of 2001, more than 4.6 million American adults -1 in every 50 - were on community supervision. This is more than double the number of criminal offenders in prison/jail.

Probationers and parolees are more serious offenders than ever before.
Once made up mostly of minor offenders, probation rolls increasingly mirror the prison population. More than half of probationers today are convicted felons. In addition, offenders on post-prison supervision are much more likely than ever before to have served nearly all of their prison terms. This either means that they committed a crime serious enough to carry a no-parole sentence or that their conduct behind bars was not good enough to earn an early release. In 2001, 55 percent of parolees were on mandatory release, up from 41 percent in 1990.

Probationers and parolees are responsible for an enormous amount of crime and drug use while on supervision.
In the nation's 75 largest counties, 21 percent of all adults charged with felonies were on probation or parole at the time they allegedly committed their offense. In some jurisdictions, more than one-third of all arrestees are under community supervision. Moreover, probationers and parolees who are addicted to drugs drive a huge share of America's illicit drug market, and the theft, violence, and corruption it breeds. By one estimate, hard-core addicts on community supervision consume as much as 50 percent of all of the cocaine and heroin in the United States (Taxman, 1996). Overall, the most recent national study indicates that 43 percent of probationers are rearrested for a felony within three years of their initial sentence. Many experts, however, believe that two-thirds of probationers re-offend within three years.

Failures of community supervision are a leading cause of crowding in prisons and jails and clogging of court dockets.
The incarceration of parolees and probationers who have violated the terms of their release is a driving engine behind the nation's gigantic increase in imprisonment. Of the 4.6 million Americans under supervision, an estimated 1.8 million are likely to violate their conditions of supervision. Nearly half will be reincarcerated in prison due to the violation behavior. The impact on jails and court dockets has not been fully explored. In 1999, 35 percent of state prison inmates were parole violators, double the rate in 1980. Over a half million probationers are sent to prison each year due to a failure from supervision. Whether sent to prison for a new crime or for a so-called "technical violation," these offenders also account for a significant portion of the detainees in local jails and, correspondingly, the cases on criminal court dockets. In 1996, 32 percent of jail inmates were on probation at the time of arrest and 13 percent were on parole (with some overlap).

The public does not believe community supervision is doing an adequate job.
National and state surveys on public attitudes toward community supervision agencies show that fewer than half of citizens believe that such agencies are doing a good job. The notion that probation, in particular, is more of an administrative status than a criminal sanction is borne out by the still popular phrases: "got off on probation" and "slap on the wrist." Public approval of community supervision's performance affects funding. To further the development of supervision as a public safety resource, more attention is needed to build support for supervision as a tool to achieve public safety.