Philadelphia's Prison Population Drop

At its peak in January 2009, the inmate population hit nearly 10,000. Since then, it has fallen to 8,200 - and dropped below 7,700 in the spring. The inmate population drop has largely been attributed to policy changes by District Attorney Seth Williams. These policies include a greater emphasis on pre-trial diversion programs (such as the Small Amounts of Marijuana program, and the Accelerated Misdemeanor Program which I am involved in), as well as changes in the way that prosecutors charge crimes.

Here are a few links to the newspaper coverage of the recent Pew Report documenting Philadelphia's prison population drop, as well as a link to the report.

"Pew: changes are reducing Philly's prison population"--Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20110720_Pew__Changes_are_reducing_Phillys_prison_population.html

"Prison population down; new programs cited"--Daily News

http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-21/news/29797937_1_community-court-prison-population-court-administrator

"Philadelphia's Less Crowded, Less Costly Jails"--Pew Charitable Trusts

http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Philadelphia_Research_Initiative/Philadelphia-Jail-Population.pdf