PRISON POPULATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 July 1943, Page 6

PRISON POPULATION

STATISTICS FOR LAST YEAR

The annual report of the Control-ler-General of Prisons, Mr. B. L. Dallard, states that the number of prisoners received into penal institutions during 1942 totalled 4219, of whom 3956 were males and 263 females, an increase of 431 and 132 respectively over the receptions in 1941. This increase did not connote an increase in the ordinary criminal population of the Dominion. The increase was largely made up by reason of the committal or transfer of over 500 military defaulters to prison and 400-odd persons involved in industrial disputes; and the substantial increase in the number of receptions of women (132) was mainly due to the greater incidence of prostitution and the efforts of the authorities to combat venereal disease.

The daily average in custody for the year 1942 (1029) has gone up in consequence of these committals to the extent of 71 on the average for the previous year. The ratio of distinct prisoners to the general population for 1942 was 18.46, as compared with 14.53 for 1941. In making a comparison, allowance must be made not only for the fact that the general population was down slightly, but also for the abnormal circumstances affecting last year’s committals. Compared with earliei’ years, the general trend was downward (1890, 38.61; 1910, 32.45; 1914, 31.05; 1932, 22.9; 1933, 17,75; 1935, 13.76; 1939. 15.38; 1940, 13.44).