Federal offender population - warrant of committal admissions - all offenders 2013

Overall Trends - Admissions

• Over the span of 10 fiscal years (2003/2004 to 2012/2013), admissions have increased by 21% - from 4,227 to 5,125 offenders per year.
• The number of men offender admissions has increased by 22% (from 3,990 to 4,850 offenders).
• The number of women offenders admitted into custody has also risen - from 237 to 275 offenders (a 16% increase). However, relative to male offenders, the proportion of women offenders admitted has increased by only 1 percentage point (from 5% to 6%) during this time period.
• Similarly, while the absolute number of Aboriginal offender admissions has increased by almost 47% (from 737 to 1,080 offenders), the proportion of Aboriginal offenders within the overall admissions cohort increased slightly (from 19% in 2003/2004 to 21% in 2012/2013).

Length of Sentence:

• The number of offenders admitted with shorter sentences of 3 years or less has increased by 10% from 2,128 offenders in 2003/2004 to 2,344 in 2012/2013. However, the relative proportion dropped from 50% to 46%.
• The number of offenders admitted with sentences between 3 and 6 years increased by 39% from 1,500 to 2,084 offenders. At the same time, the proportion of offenders with sentences between 3 and 6 years increased from 35% to 40%.
• The proportion of offenders serving longer sentences has not changed noticeably over the years. During 2012/2013, 9% arrived with sentences between 6 and 10 years. About 5% of offenders were admitted to serve sentences of 10 years or more or indeterminate sentences (including life).

Major Offence Categories:

• The proportion of offenders admitted for a drug offence increased by 8 percentage points between 2003/2004 and 2012/2013 - from 18% of admissions (713 offenders) to 26% (1,274 offenders).
• At the same time, the proportion of new admissions for robbery dropped from 19% (773 offenders) to 14% (681 offenders).
• Further, admissions for property offences (e.g., theft, fraud, break and enter) also dropped from 21% in 2003/2004 (831 offenders) to 13% in 2012/2013 (645 offenders).
• In 2012/2013, the proportions of offenders admitted with homicide-related (7%) and sex offences (13%) increased minimally.

Custody Rating (Custody Rating Scale):

• The proportions of offenders admitted with minimum (33%), medium (55%) and maximum (12%) security custody ratings did not change significantly between 2003/2004 and 2012/2013.
• However, there was a 34% increase in the number of offenders admitted between 2003/2004 and 2012/2013 who were rated as minimum security (from 1,238 to 1,655 offenders).
• There was also a 14% increase in the number of newly admitted offenders who were rated as medium security (from 2,427 to 2,774 offenders).
• Finally, the number of offenders admitted who were rated as maximum security increased by 12% (from 550 to 618).

Risk Rating (SIR - Male, Non-Aboriginal only):

• The proportion of high risk offenders (scores of -5 to -28) admitted into custody dropped significantly from 43% of the admissions population in 2003/2004 (1,385 offenders) to 26% in 2012/2013 (947 offenders).
• During this same time period the proportion of low risk offenders (scores of 1 to 28) increased from 40% (1,290 offenders) to 57% (2,114 offenders).
• The proportion of moderate risk offenders (scores of 0 to -4) remained essentially the same (17%).

Reintegration Potential:

• In 2012/2013, 40% of admitted offenders were assessed as having medium reintegration potential, 35% as having low reintegration potential, and 25% as having high reintegration potential.

Age:

• During 2012/2013, just over 13% of offenders admitted to custody were aged 50 years and older. This represents an increase of 5 percentage points since 2003/2004.
• Forty-seven percent of offenders admitted during 2012/2013 were aged 30 to 49 years. This percentage decreased from 52% in 2003/2004.
• The percentage of admitted offenders who were under 30 years of age has remained relatively constant over the years at about 40%.

Criminal Associations (from DFIA-R^{Footnote 2}):

• Between 2010/2011 and 2012/13, the percentage of admitted offenders who had mostly criminal friends remained stable at about 54%.
• The percentage of admitted offenders with existing gang affiliations decreased slightly during this time period (from 16% to 13%).

Dynamic Factors (Needs from DFIA-R^{Footnote 2a}):

• In 2012/2013, the most frequent dynamic factor identified as moderate or high need was the Attitudes domain (73% of offenders). The Personal/Emotional domain was identified in 71% cases. In turn, Criminal Associates and Substance Abuse were identified in 64% and 58% of offenders, respectively. Employment needs were indicated for 56% of offenders. Marital/Family issues (32%) and Community Functioning challenges (25%) followed. These factors have not changed significantly between 2010/2011 and 2012/2013.

Prepared by the Research Branch
Data Source: Data derived from tables in the Offender Management System (OMS) and were extracted on August 23, 2013.