Study Shows Indiana's Incarceration Rate Above National Average

FORT WAYNE -- A recent study shows Indiana’s incarceration rate is above the national average, and well above other nations. 

According to the Prison Policy Initiative, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world -- locking up 716 people per every 100,000 residents. That’s 200 more than Cuba, which was the second highest nation on the list.

Indiana’s rate is higher than the national average: 751 per 100,000 residents, ranking it the 18th highest in the nation.  

According to Prison Policy Initiative Legal Director Aleks Kajstura, Indiana’s imprisonment numbers have stagnated over the last decade.

“Indiana has been going out, and they kind of leveled out after 2005 or so," Kajstura said. "Its trends seem to be mirroring the U.S. as a whole.”

Still, the most striking fact from the report, she says, is that the incarceration rate in a state like Indiana is much higher than other nations.

“If you look at Indiana in the world context, it’s worse than the U.S. as a whole," Kajstura said. "And worse than anyone else in the world.”

The number of people in Indiana with sentences longer than one year peaked near 30,000 in 2009, and has stayed just below that number since.