Threat Posed by Career Criminals Rising

Nearly 84% of criminals imprisoned on state charges in 1979 were repeat offenders, a national survey reported Sunday in a finding that provides substantial support for the view that law enforcement efforts ought to be concentrated on those who make a career out of crime.

About 46% of the repeaters who committed new crimes would still have been behind bars if they had served maximum sentences for the crimes for which they were convicted, according to the survey by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

“These findings graphically illustrate the enormous impact repeat offenders have on public safety and the criminal justice system,” said Assistant Atty. Gen. Stephen S. Trott, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. He said the statistics “also give us some sense of how much additional crime could be reduced if criminals actually served the increased sentences which could be imposed under present law.”

Early Releases Cited

The survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an agency of the Justice Department, marks the only nationally representative “recidivism estimate” ever done, said Lawrence A. Greenfeld, a bureau statistician and author of the study.

Greenfeld said the findings have special significance for states that decide to release prisoners early from overflowing institutions. “It’s extremely important to look at who we’re releasing and what kind of time they served,” he said.

In 1983, 15 states freed 20,000 inmates before their normal time of release.

Some 5,357 inmates who entered prison between Nov. 1, 1978, and Oct. 31, 1979, were included in the study sample. During that one-year period, 153,000 males were sent to state prisons.

42% Were on Probation

An estimated 42% of those entering state prisons in 1979 were then on probation or parole for prior offenses.

The repeat offenders were estimated to account for about two-thirds or more of the burglaries, auto thefts, and forgery, fraud and embezzlement offenses committed by all of those sent to prisons in 1979.

Those who would have been still imprisoned if they had served their full terms were responsible for 20% of the violent offenses, 28% of the burglaries and auto thefts, 30% of the forgery, fraud and embezzlement and 31% of the stolen property offenses, according to the survey.

The study rejected the view that repeat criminals generally commit offenses against property. When their criminal records were examined, it said, they were found to have about the same rate of violent offenses as those sent to prison for the first time.

Half Return to Prison

About half of the repeat offenders released from state prisons will return within 20 years--and 60% of those who are sent to prison again are back there by the end of their third year of freedom, according to the survey.

“Clearly, the greatest risk for public safety is within the first few years after release from prison,” the bureau’s study said. It found a correlation between the age of those being released and the likelihood of their coming back, with the younger the most likely.

Except for the early release of prisoners that states are using to relieve prison overcrowding, the study’s results seem in line with policies some states already are adopting.

The study noted that in recent years many state legislatures have adopted mandatory prison terms or long sentences for repeat offenders and have enacted determinate or fixed sentences and taken other steps to cut back on discretion in meting out punishment.