The Wisconsin corrections system is at a tipping point, so now what? | Local News I Racine County Eye – Racine, Wisconsin

This is the first installment of a series –

Crime rate didn’t cause a rise in the prison population, researchers say.

Researchers from several studies indicate that the increased prison population is not the result of an increase in crime, but rather policy choices, according to the report by the Columbia University Justice Lab.

The property crime rate in Wisconsin was 27 percent lower than the national average in 2017 and has decreased since 2013. The violent crime rate was also 21 percent lower than the national average but has increased slightly in recent years, the report says. African-Americans are also disproportionately placed under supervision and reincarcerated for supervision violations, according to the Department of Corrections. In Racine County, the numbers bear this out. From 2000 through 2018, 2,338 — or 60 percent — of all revocation-only admissions were black, according to the DOC.

Source: The Wisconsin corrections system is at a tipping point, so now what? | Local News I Racine County Eye – Racine, Wisconsin