Site Network: Prison Policy Initiative | Prisoners of the Census

Section III: The Prison Economy

Crime Control and the Economy

  • Amount, spent nationally in 1997 on police421: $57.6 billion
  • Amount, spent nationally in 1997 on the judiciary422: $28.5 billion
  • Amount, spent nationally in 1997 on corrections423: $43.5 billion
  • Amount, spent by the federal government in 2001 on drug control424: $18.1 billion
  • Percent of federal drug control expenditures used to reduce demand via research, programs, drug abuse treatment, and prevention, 2001425: 31%
  • Percent of federal drug control expenditures used to reduce supply via domestic law enforcement, 2001426: 54%

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative. Footnotes for all facts are available in the print version.