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CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW COMMITMENTS 1991

NCJ Number
142862
Date Published
1992
Length
138 pages
Annotation
This report describes the population of new court commitments to the New York State Department of Correctional Services during calendar year 1991.
Abstract
The tables provide information on legal history characteristics of new commitments (e.g., crime, minimum sentence, and prior criminal record) and demographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity, county of commitment). Also, several tables show trends in new court commitments across the years 1988 through 1991. There were a total of 29,860 admissions in 1991. Of these, 81 percent were new court commitments, 11 percent were returned parole violators, and 2,343 were other admissions. Drug offenders constituted 45 percent of new commitments, compared to 37 percent in 1988. Thirty-four percent of new commitments were violent felony offenders, 14 percent committed property crimes, 5 percent committed other coercive crimes, and 2 percent were youthful offenders. A total of 44 percent of new court commitments were sentenced as first felony offender, 55 percent as second felony offenders, and 1 percent as persistent felony offenders. The average minimum sentence was 36.5 months. Males composed 91 percent of new court commitments. Whites constituted 14 percent of new court commitments, blacks 50 percent, and Hispanics 35 percent. The average age of offenders committed was 28.9 years. Appended supplementary data