Escapes

Escape Rates

Prison escapes have decreased dramatically since 1994 when a total of 7,598 inmates (all security levels) escaped. In 2001, the total number of escapes (all security levels) was 5,487. When these figures are broken down into security levels, the number of higher-security escapes has decreased by 78% from 1994 to 2001, while the number of low-security or walk-aways has only decreased about 6%. In 1994, of the total number of escapes, 30% were classified as medium to high security, while in 2001, only 9% were classified as such. Such decrease is even more notable in light of the simultaneously growth in the prison population. During this period, the total number of inmates has increased 86% from approximately 1 million to 1.9 million.

Walk Aways

Those who seek to escape their prison sentence usually do it merely by walking away. That is to say, they either do not return to prison or simply disappear from work release, transitional supervision centers, halfway houses, furloughs, medical appointments, and so on. From 1994 through 2001, the number of walk aways fell slightly from 5,311 to 4,995. In the same period, the percentage of these escapees who were returned fell from 49% in 1994 to 46% in 2001. Less attention is paid to these kinds of escapes since the people involved usually are thought to pose little threat to the community.

High-Security Escapes

The total number of higher-security escapes from federal and state facilities decreased from 2,287 in 1994 to only 492 in 2001. Most high-security escapees are eventually caught and returned to the institution with additional time added to their original sentence. The rate at which escapees are caught and returned to confinement improved from 87% in 1994 to 91% in 2001.

The drop in number of high-profile and highsecurity escapes and the improved rate at which such individuals are found are attributed to a number of factors including an increased focus on correctional officer selection and education, more rigorous classification schemes, and better perimeter security. Various technological developments have also reduced prisoners' ability to run away from prison such as the installation of motion detectors, metal detectors, and nonlethal stun fencing. In some institutions, visits are now placed under video surveillance to reduce the possibility of contraband or weapons being smuggled into the prison that could be used in an escape attempt.

There have also been many changes and innovations in prison construction over the past decade [Page 299]that have made high-security institutions much harder to escape from. Increases in perimeter fence lighting and the use of razor ribbon around the perimeter of the facility, for example, both act as physical barriers to those wishing to flee. Furthermore, the introduction of the supermax prison, such as Pelican Bay in California, has also affected the escape rate. Inmates in these kinds of institution are isolated from others and have little contact even with staff. They remain in lockdown at all times, in small cells that have only the tiniest of windows with unbreakable glass. Such institutions are nearly impossible to get out of other than by officially sanctioned means of release.

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