Help keep people safe in their communities and on Pennsylvania's roads

Reduce criminal justice system involvement

One of the governor’s goals related to public safety is the Department of Corrections will reduce its state correction population by 5% by 2020. DOC overall total population directly drives the Department’s budget. The baseline for the goal is the total population on June 30, 2015. On June 30, 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections overall population was 50,366.

This dataset contains the total number of state corrections population in the Department’s custody at the end of each month, including those in prison, in contracted county jails, in community phases of the State Intermediate Punishment (SIP) program, in Parole Violator Centers (PVCs), and on temporary transfer to other jurisdictions.

DOC publishes a Monthly Population Report to the DOC Website (www.cor.pa.gov). The information published to the website includes the data set and breakdown of populations in each institution.

Three different measures of recidivism (rearrest, reincarceration, and overall recidivism) have been used by the DOC in a recent report to further explore the effects of recidivism on the criminal justice system. The DOC defines rearrest as: “the first instance of arrest after the individual is released from the custody of the DOC.” The DOC defines reincarceration as: “the first instance of returning to the custody of the DOC after the individual is released from the DOC.” The DOC defines overall recidivism as: “the first instance of any type of rearrest or reincarceration after the individual is released from the DOC.”

- The 3-year rearrest rates have been consistently higher than the 3-year reincarceration rates.
- The overall recidivism rates have remained relatively stable.
- From 2000 to 2013, rearrest rates appear to grow consistently before trending downward in recent years (e.g. 3-year rate has been below 50.0% in 4 of the last 5 years).
- The 2013 3-year reincarceration rate was down slightly at 43.7%, still lower than all the 3-year rates prior to 2008.
- The 2013 3-year overall recidivism rate dropped to 60.9%. This was the second lowest overall recidivism rate in the past 13 years (with 2011 being lowest at 59.9%)
- The 2015 1-year rates were all up slightly.

These statistics are based on a cohort of inmates.

Information that is available from the Office of the State Fire Commission on these Fire Departments in the State of Pennsylvania.

Crash data reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Includes data involving drivers, passengers, and motor vehicles for researching highway safety. This data can be used to investigate traffic crashes, fatalities and injuries statewide and in specific counties or municipalities.
An incident that occurs on a highway or traffic way that is open to the public by right or custom and involved
at least one motor vehicle in transport. An incident is reportable if it involves:
Injury to or death of any person, or
Damage to any vehicle to the extent that it cannot be driven under its own power in its
customary manner without further damage or hazard to the vehicle, other traffic elements, or
the roadway, and therefore requires towing.
Crash data does not include non-reportable crashes or near misses
Crash data may not contain complete information, some elements may be unknown

Data fields that may help with CODE4PA 2018 event Leveraging Data to help Fight the Opioid Epidemic
DRUG_RELATED At least one Driver or Pedestrian with Drugs reported or suspected NUMBER
This is a flag that defines whether the crash involved a driver or pedestrian was suspected of using drugs or was actually tested and had drugs in their system. If a driver or pedestrian is suspected and were tested, but the test results show no drugs, this situation would not be included.

DRUGGED_DRIVER At least one Driver with Drugs reported or suspected NUMBER
This flag is similar to drug_related, but it only applies to drivers. It defines whether the crash involved a driver suspected of using drugs or was actually tested and had drugs in their system. If a driver is suspected and were tested, but the test results show no drugs, this situation would not be included.

ILLEGAL_DRUG_RELATED At Least 1 Driver or Pedestrian had reported or suspected Illegal Drug Use NUMBER
This flag is similar to drug_related, but it only applies to illegal drugs. It defines whether the crash involved a driver or pedestrian suspected of using illegal drugs. If a driver is suspected and were tested, but the test results show no drugs, this situation would not be included.

IMPAIRED_DRIVER At least One Driver was Impaired by Drugs or Alcohol NUMBER
This flag is similar to drug_related, but it includes both alcohol and drugs and it only applies to drivers. It defines whether the crash involved a driver suspected of using drugs or alcohol or was actually tested and had drugs or alcohol in their system. If a driver is suspected and were tested, but the test results show no drugs, this situation would not be included.
* For additional information please review the Crash Data Information pdf attachment in the About This Dataset section of the Primer on this dataset.

Historical results of Dangerous Dogs in Pennsylvania.
A dangerous dog is one that has:

(1) Inflicted severe injury on a human being without provocation on public or private property.

(2) Killed or inflicted severe injury on a domestic animal, dog or cat without provocation while off the owner’s property.

(3) Attacked a human being without provocation.

(4) Been used in the commission of a crime.

And the dog has either or both of the following:

(1) A history of attacking human beings and/or domestic animals, dogs or cats without provocation.

(2) A propensity to attack human beings and/or domestic animals, dogs or cats without provocation.

*A propensity to attack may be proven by a single incident.

Severe injury is defined as, [3 P.S. § 459-102] “Any physical injury that results in broken bones or disfiguring lacerations requiring multiple sutures or cosmetic surgery.”
More information can be found here - https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Animals/DogLaw/Dangerous%20Dogs/Pages/default.aspx

More information on Chapter 27 Regulations - https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Animals/DogLaw/Dangerous%20Dogs/Documents/Chapter%2027%20Dangerous%20Dogs.pdf

PDF's for Chapter 27 and Pennsylvania Dog Laws are attached to the metadata

Historical results of Kennel Inspections in Pennsylvania.

Historical results of Dog Bites in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (PBPP) are jointly responsible for managing various administrative processes that are key drivers of the state prison population. These key areas of joint DOC/PBPP operations which affect the prison population include:

Interviews - Parole Board capacity for scheduling and conducting parole interviews
Pending Release - Inmates approved for parole but still pending release from prison for various reasons
Release - The number of inmates released onto parole supervision, either in a community corrections center (halfway house) or at home
Parole Violator – Re-admission to PA DOC custody for a parole violation
The primary objective of this dashboard is to provide a tool for monitoring/managing progress towards improvements in these areas which will enable more efficient management of the prison population. By achieving improvements in these areas, the ultimate outcomes will be cost reduction, public safety enhancement, and prison population reduction.