Orion Taylor
@orionjtaylor.bsky.social
[ lead data scientist at https://publicsafetylab.org/ and https://jaildatainitiative.org/ ] [ nyu and ssrc ] [ based in new york ] [ he/him ] [ ojt212@nyu.edu ]
Jail populations have increased steadily over the first half of this year.
In the sample of 822 jail rosters below from the Jail Data Initiative, from less than 245,000 at the beginning of 2025 to over 255,000 at the end of May.
In the sample of 822 jail rosters below from the Jail Data Initiative, from less than 245,000 at the beginning of 2025 to over 255,000 at the end of May.
June 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Jail populations have increased steadily over the first half of this year.
In the sample of 822 jail rosters below from the Jail Data Initiative, from less than 245,000 at the beginning of 2025 to over 255,000 at the end of May.
In the sample of 822 jail rosters below from the Jail Data Initiative, from less than 245,000 at the beginning of 2025 to over 255,000 at the end of May.
If you're a journalist who wants to learn more about jail data and deaths in custody, register for our conversation with @themarshallproject.org's @brittanyhailer.bsky.social and Anna Flagg
www.themarshallproject.org/events/for-j...
www.themarshallproject.org/events/for-j...
Event: For Journalists: Press Briefing on Deaths in Jails and Prisons
Join us for an on-the-record conversation with experts who will share insights from their research and reporting on deaths behind bars.
www.themarshallproject.org
March 4, 2025 at 11:29 PM
If you're a journalist who wants to learn more about jail data and deaths in custody, register for our conversation with @themarshallproject.org's @brittanyhailer.bsky.social and Anna Flagg
www.themarshallproject.org/events/for-j...
www.themarshallproject.org/events/for-j...
Reposted by Orion Taylor
Unhoused people face a litany of unfair criminal charges simply because they’re unhoused – usually for actions they take when just trying to survive.
Clearly, the solution to homelessness is not more criminalization. No one should be punished for not having a place to stay.
Clearly, the solution to homelessness is not more criminalization. No one should be punished for not having a place to stay.
February 19, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Unhoused people face a litany of unfair criminal charges simply because they’re unhoused – usually for actions they take when just trying to survive.
Clearly, the solution to homelessness is not more criminalization. No one should be punished for not having a place to stay.
Clearly, the solution to homelessness is not more criminalization. No one should be punished for not having a place to stay.
New reporting from @prisonpolicy.bsky.social using Public Safety Lab Jail Data Initiative data 🔽
"...the Jail Data Initiative data provide the best and most recent look at our national reliance on jails for addressing the ongoing crisis of homelessness."
"...the Jail Data Initiative data provide the best and most recent look at our national reliance on jails for addressing the ongoing crisis of homelessness."
New data shows that unhoused people are most commonly booked for a top charge of trespassing — a charge frequently used to criminalize people for having nowhere else to go.
Guess what would likely solve that problem? Housing – not jail.
Guess what would likely solve that problem? Housing – not jail.
February 19, 2025 at 6:05 PM
New reporting from @prisonpolicy.bsky.social using Public Safety Lab Jail Data Initiative data 🔽
"...the Jail Data Initiative data provide the best and most recent look at our national reliance on jails for addressing the ongoing crisis of homelessness."
"...the Jail Data Initiative data provide the best and most recent look at our national reliance on jails for addressing the ongoing crisis of homelessness."
Reposted by Orion Taylor
In 2023, about 4.5% of jail bookings were unhoused people.
This translates to about 205,000 different unhoused people going to jails each year nationwide — nearly one-third of the number of people experiencing homelessness on any given night in 2023.
This translates to about 205,000 different unhoused people going to jails each year nationwide — nearly one-third of the number of people experiencing homelessness on any given night in 2023.
February 17, 2025 at 2:15 PM
In 2023, about 4.5% of jail bookings were unhoused people.
This translates to about 205,000 different unhoused people going to jails each year nationwide — nearly one-third of the number of people experiencing homelessness on any given night in 2023.
This translates to about 205,000 different unhoused people going to jails each year nationwide — nearly one-third of the number of people experiencing homelessness on any given night in 2023.
Reposted by Orion Taylor
Compared to the general population, unhoused people are held in jail for 3.5x as long, despite typically being charged with the lowest level crimes
It’s safe to assume that unaffordable cash bail is to blame. No one should have to stay behind bars because they can't afford bail
It’s safe to assume that unaffordable cash bail is to blame. No one should have to stay behind bars because they can't afford bail
February 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Compared to the general population, unhoused people are held in jail for 3.5x as long, despite typically being charged with the lowest level crimes
It’s safe to assume that unaffordable cash bail is to blame. No one should have to stay behind bars because they can't afford bail
It’s safe to assume that unaffordable cash bail is to blame. No one should have to stay behind bars because they can't afford bail
Check out this thorough journalists' toolkit for reporting on deaths in county jails, courtesy of @brittanyhailer.bsky.social for @themarshallproject.org ⤵️
And if you want to see if your jail is included in the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative bookings database ⤵️
jaildatainitiative.org
And if you want to see if your jail is included in the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative bookings database ⤵️
jaildatainitiative.org
January 31, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Check out this thorough journalists' toolkit for reporting on deaths in county jails, courtesy of @brittanyhailer.bsky.social for @themarshallproject.org ⤵️
And if you want to see if your jail is included in the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative bookings database ⤵️
jaildatainitiative.org
And if you want to see if your jail is included in the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative bookings database ⤵️
jaildatainitiative.org
📈 Today's factoid available only because of the real-time web scraping of the Jail Data Initiative:
Jail populations reach local minima on Christmas (Dec 25th). After collecting data for 5 full years, the Christmas Day population was higher in 2024 than it has been in any other year we've seen.
Jail populations reach local minima on Christmas (Dec 25th). After collecting data for 5 full years, the Christmas Day population was higher in 2024 than it has been in any other year we've seen.
January 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
📈 Today's factoid available only because of the real-time web scraping of the Jail Data Initiative:
Jail populations reach local minima on Christmas (Dec 25th). After collecting data for 5 full years, the Christmas Day population was higher in 2024 than it has been in any other year we've seen.
Jail populations reach local minima on Christmas (Dec 25th). After collecting data for 5 full years, the Christmas Day population was higher in 2024 than it has been in any other year we've seen.
Reposted by Orion Taylor
If you have any interest in US jail populations, I suggest spending some time with the Jail Data Initiative's filters for overall jail population trends.
December 16, 2024 at 8:08 PM
If you have any interest in US jail populations, I suggest spending some time with the Jail Data Initiative's filters for overall jail population trends.
Reposted by Orion Taylor
Self-serving politicians may want you to believe that violent crime is rampant and repeat offenders are to blame – but two things to remember:
1. Overall crime rates are at historically low levels
2. 74% of all jail bookings are for charges that are not "violent"
1. Overall crime rates are at historically low levels
2. 74% of all jail bookings are for charges that are not "violent"
December 14, 2024 at 8:15 PM
Self-serving politicians may want you to believe that violent crime is rampant and repeat offenders are to blame – but two things to remember:
1. Overall crime rates are at historically low levels
2. 74% of all jail bookings are for charges that are not "violent"
1. Overall crime rates are at historically low levels
2. 74% of all jail bookings are for charges that are not "violent"
In our recent collaboration with the Prison Policy Initiative, we quantify a few of the mechanisms of disproportionality racism in the criminal justice system 📊
Check out the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative to learn more: jaildatainitiative.org
Check out the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative to learn more: jaildatainitiative.org
Black people are overrepresented in every single part of the criminal legal system – including jails.
And not only are they jailed at alarmingly high rates, but they are jailed again & again.
And not only are they jailed at alarmingly high rates, but they are jailed again & again.
Who is jailed, how often, and why: Our Jail Data Initiative collaboration offers a fresh look at the misuse of local jails
Using a novel data source, we examine the flow of individuals booked into a nationally-representative sample of jails along lines of race, ethnicity, sex, age, ...
buff.ly
December 15, 2024 at 7:30 PM
In our recent collaboration with the Prison Policy Initiative, we quantify a few of the mechanisms of disproportionality racism in the criminal justice system 📊
Check out the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative to learn more: jaildatainitiative.org
Check out the Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative to learn more: jaildatainitiative.org
Reposted by Orion Taylor
Data shows that more than 40% of unhoused people booked into jail were booked again within the year
The data is clear: poor people are a primary target for policing, especially those forced to live on the streets
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
The data is clear: poor people are a primary target for policing, especially those forced to live on the streets
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
December 12, 2024 at 10:46 PM
Data shows that more than 40% of unhoused people booked into jail were booked again within the year
The data is clear: poor people are a primary target for policing, especially those forced to live on the streets
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
The data is clear: poor people are a primary target for policing, especially those forced to live on the streets
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
Reposted by Orion Taylor
More than 1 in 5 people are jailed multiple times a year
There is no "safe" way to jail a person – even a single day in jail has devastating effects. And people who are jailed multiple times a year inevitably face exacerbated consequences of incarceration:
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
There is no "safe" way to jail a person – even a single day in jail has devastating effects. And people who are jailed multiple times a year inevitably face exacerbated consequences of incarceration:
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
December 11, 2024 at 9:44 PM
More than 1 in 5 people are jailed multiple times a year
There is no "safe" way to jail a person – even a single day in jail has devastating effects. And people who are jailed multiple times a year inevitably face exacerbated consequences of incarceration:
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
There is no "safe" way to jail a person – even a single day in jail has devastating effects. And people who are jailed multiple times a year inevitably face exacerbated consequences of incarceration:
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
The Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative dataset "fills a serious gap in our knowledge about the demographics and charges of people booked into jails, given that comparable data has not been collected or published from the Bureau of Justice Statistics in over twenty years." 📊
74% of bookings are for charges that are not "violent"
Contrary to misinformation that may be out there, only 26% of all jail bookings are for violent crimes
Contrary to misinformation that may be out there, only 26% of all jail bookings are for violent crimes
December 10, 2024 at 5:23 PM
The Public Safety Lab's Jail Data Initiative dataset "fills a serious gap in our knowledge about the demographics and charges of people booked into jails, given that comparable data has not been collected or published from the Bureau of Justice Statistics in over twenty years." 📊
"The Jail Data Initiative offers a sorely-needed alternative source of information about jail admissions and about people who are jailed repeatedly."
Check out the first reporting from our collaboration with the Prison Policy Initiative ⤵️
Check out the first reporting from our collaboration with the Prison Policy Initiative ⤵️
🚨NEW Briefing: In 2023, there were 7.6 million jail admissions – and 1 in 4 of them were someone *returning* to jail for at least a 2nd time that year.
Here's everything we learned from our new collaboration with Jail Data Initiative🧵
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
Here's everything we learned from our new collaboration with Jail Data Initiative🧵
www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
December 10, 2024 at 5:21 PM
"The Jail Data Initiative offers a sorely-needed alternative source of information about jail admissions and about people who are jailed repeatedly."
Check out the first reporting from our collaboration with the Prison Policy Initiative ⤵️
Check out the first reporting from our collaboration with the Prison Policy Initiative ⤵️