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Probation And Parole Essay

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The first thing I would like to do here is define the difference between probation and parole. Probation, as defined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is court-ordered period of correctional supervision in the community, generally as an alternative to incarceration. In some cases, it can be a combined sentence of incarceration followed by a period of community supervision. Parole, is period of conditional supervised release in the community following a prison term. It includes parolees released through discretionary or mandatory supervised release from prison, those released through other types of post-custody conditional supervision, and those sentenced to a term of supervised release. The next item to address is the period of reporting and available information. The latest official statistics I was able to find in regards to this topic are from 2015 – revised in February 2017 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in their Probation and Parole in the United States, 2015 product. …show more content…

The BJS highlighted several interesting key findings: 1) approximately 1 in 53 adults in the United States was under community supervision at yearend 2015 (concerning finding – what does that say about our society?); 2) parole entries increased for the first time in seven years. Parole exits increased for the first time in six years; 3) placement onto probation decreased from an estimated 2,065,800 entries in 2014 to 1,966,100 in 2015; 4) adult parole population increased by 12,800 from yearend 2014 to yearend 2015, to an estimated 870,500 offenders; 5) probation exits declined from 2,129,100 in 2014 to 2,043,200 in 2015 while exits from parole increased from 450,800 in 2014 to 463,700 in

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