An increasing number of people on probation or parole who have not committed new crimes are being sent to prison for breaking their release conditions, according to a new Virginia state report.
Officials said the upswing illustrates a national trend of states using scarce prison space for people who break the rules that govern their freedom. As states grapple with rising prison populations, many, including Virginia, are taking careful inventories of prison populations to determine who really needs to be there.
"There's some thought out there that if you just leave a lot of these people alone, you'll never see them again. They may not be model citizens or members of the Rotary Club. They'll likely be a drain on society in some respects, but they won't be a danger to the public," said Richard Kern, director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission.
The number of people sent to prison in Virginia without new criminal convictions climbed 47 percent from 1998 to 2002, to 1,551 people, about a tenth of the total number of people imprisoned that year, according to a survey by the commission, which monitors sentencing practices in the state.
During the five years, 6,269 criminals being monitored by probation and parole officers were returned to prison for breaking their release conditions in ways that did not involve new convictions--offenses known as technical violations.
Most often they repeatedly skipped appointments with their officers, failed drug tests or just disappeared without permission.
Of the people who had their probation or parole revoked in 2002 in Virginia, 63 percent lost their freedom because of technical violations, a rate consistent with nationwide figures.
But probation and parole officers say they need to be able to threaten people with prison time.
People are more likely to behave if they know they could be locked up, said S. Dean Hahn, president of the Virginia Probation and Parole Association.
The Virginia study is part of the Criminal Sentencing Commission's 2003 Annual Report and is the first time since the state abolished parole that the commission has closely analyzed violations by people on probation or who have been released from prison.