LANSING (WWJ) - The Michigan Department of Corrections says 2019 is following a five year trend of fewer people behind bars.
The state says the decline is due to fewer repeat offenders with parole violations, which is down more than 20 percent. Also, the state's recidivism rate of 29% -- the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend -- is one of the lowest nationwide.
The Department of Corrections credits training and re-entry programs for getting the population to just 38,005 people locked up -- the lowest number since the mid-1990s.
"We are proud of the results we have produced for the state of Michigan," MDOC Director Heidi Washington said in a statement. "The MDOC is often the forgotten link in public safety, but the reforms and programs our dedicated employees provide every day are making a real difference in creating a safer Michigan."
Specifically, Washington said the number of parole violators returning to prison for new crimes has been reduced by 29 percent over the past five years and the number of parolees returning to prison for technical violations in the same time span has declined 21 percent.
Also on the decline are the total number of felonies adjudicated across the state and consequently, so was the number of people sent to prison in the past five years.
