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 (April 2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative.

Footnotes

421 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, Table 1.3

422 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, Table 1.3

423 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, Table 1.3

424 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, Table 1.12

425 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, Table 1.12

426 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, Table 1.12