Posted on: Wednesday, August 29, 2001

Prison population surges despite dip in crime

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

Hawai'i had 22,800 people in prison, on parole or on probation at the end of last year, placing Hawai'i 25th among the states for the rate at which it places people under correctional supervision.

The state with the highest rate was Georgia, while the lowest was West Virginia, according to a newly released report from the U.S. Department of Justice.

As of last week, Hawai'i's prison system held a record 5,100 inmates, including about 1,200 who are housed on the Mainland because there is no room for them in prisons here, said Ted Sakai, director of the state Department of Public Safety.

That is a dramatic 56 percent increase in the state's prison population in the past six years, Sakai said. Sakai pointed to several factors that are driving growth in the prison population, including mandatory prison terms for some drug offenses such as possession of crystal methamphetamine.

He also noted that in 1995, about 380 prisoners were locked up for failing on parole, while almost twice that many sat in prison this year.

Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics for the state attorney general's office, said Hawai'i's violent and property crime rates peaked in 1995, and then dropped to record or near-record lows in 1999.

Some observers such as former Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro contend the increase in the state's prison population caused the drop in the crime rate as the state locked up more criminals and prevented them from committing new crimes.

But criminologist Meda Chesney-Lind said longer term data in both Hawai'i and on the Mainland show no correlation between incarceration rates and crime rates.