The number of people on probation and parole spiked in the District last year, bucking a decline in Virginia, Maryland and nationwide.
The District’s total community supervision population rose from 13,600 on Jan. 1, 2010, to 14,800 at the year’s end — an 8.8 percent increase, the second-largest in the country — according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data released Monday. The probation population rose 12.6 percent, and the parole population increased 3 percent during the year.
The number of people under community supervision dropped 6.3 percent in Maryland, 2 percent in Virginia and 1.3 percent nationwide, according to the BJS data.
| Community supervision population | ||||
| Jurisdiction | Jan. 1, 2010 | Dec. 31, 2010 | ||
| D.C. | 13,600 | 14,800 | ||
| Maryland | 108,200 | 101,400 | ||
| Virginia | 59,100 | 57,900 | ||
| Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics | ||||
The reasons behind the District’s increases aren’t fully known. Although crime consistently dropped over the past two decades, “there has not been a continuous decline in incarceration, court activity and parole and probation populations,” said Len Sipes, spokesman for D.C.’s Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency.
Changes in the community supervision population don’t necessarily correspond to crime rates because probation and parole populations are largely influenced by people leaving prison, BJS statistician Lauren Glaze said.
Some of those under community supervision now committed crimes decades ago.
Sister Susan VanBaalen, executive director of the reentry program Prison Outreach Ministry, said she has seen an uptick in demand for services, especially from men who were incarcerated during the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic, but are now out of prison and on supervised release.
The biggest challenges for that group are finding employment and housing and getting up to speed on technology, VanBaalen said.
Those charged with monitoring the increasing number of probationers and parolees must focus on high-risk offenders, Sipes said. He said the agency focuses on getting services — such as mental-health treatment — to those deemed most likely to re-offend.
“The research is abundantly clear that it cannot simply be supervision,” he said. The agency must make sure “the resources are there on the supervision side and the treatment side.”
The BJS report only compiled data for states and the District; no other cities were included.
Thirty-three states reported probation population declines; 17 states, D.C. and the federal system had increases. For parole, 19 states saw drops and 31, the District and the federal system reported rises.
