U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Maricopa County Mega-Jail Survey

NCJ Number
141448
Journal
Large Jails Network Bulletin Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: (March 1990) Pages: 13-16
Author(s)
E Kirschbaum
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This large jail survey, prepared by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Phoenix, Arizona, provides data up to December 1989 on 44 facilities throughout the United States.
Abstract
The average daily jail population in 1989 ranged from a high of 21,851 in Los Angeles to a low of 635 in Newark, New Jersey. In 1988, high and low figures for the same two cities were 21,866 and 615, respectively. Jail overcrowding was the worst in Memphis, Tennessee, with 207 percent fill, and nonexistent in such cities as Sacramento, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Denver. The inmate to staff ratio varied from a high of 8.8 to 1 in Los Angeles to a low of 1.8 to 1 in New York City. Data are also provided on the average daily jail population for 1986, jail rated capacity, number and type of security staff, staff starting salaries, average bookings per month, and average daily jail population for December 1989.