In April 2025, the Prison Policy Initiative again published its annual graphics-heavy analysis of the nation’s prison system called “The Whole Pie.” PPI did its usual detailed job of assembling data from the country’s disparate systems of confinement.

The word “still” appeared quite often. The U.S. still incarcerated more than any other nation did. Incarcerated populations still hovered near 2 million. Racial statistics still incarcerate more Black persons (1,096 per 100,000) than White persons (214 per 100,000). Still the report has mostly optimistic data.

“Given the increasing politicization of criminal legal system facts in recent years, it bears repeating that we do have up-to-date crime statistics from the FBI that affirm that crime remains at historic lows. Preliminary data from the first half of 2024 shows that nationwide, the crime rate for all Index crimes likely hit its lowest point since 1961 last year,” said PPI’s report.

A search of San Quentin News archives found an April 2016 article written by then-Associate Editor Kevin D. Sawyer that discussed PPI’s “The Whole Pie” report that used data from 2015. A comparison over 10 years revealed that much has changed for the better. Sawyer concluded his story by quoting the 2015 PPI report as having said the nation had “the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world.” With a current rate of 664 per 100,000, that quotation still applied today.

Immigration detentions rose by 15,000 or 45.5%.

“The average daily population of 43,759 in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention comes from ICE’s Detention Management spreadsheet, reporting current detention and Alternatives to Detention data as of February 23, 2025,” according to the report.

In 2015, such incarcerations amounted to 5,500. In 2025, they increased to 25,000. An added 19,500 involuntarily committed persons calculated to the astonishing number of 354.5%. No other category in PPI’s report showed similarly jarring figures.

“At least 20 states and the federal government operate facilities for the purposes of detaining people convicted of sex-related crimes after their sentences are complete,” said the report.

From 2015 to 2025, violent crime decreased by 3.8% and murders decreased by 1.2%. Only a few single-digit comparisons showed up and most crime statistics showed far greater decreases.

Property crime statistics revealed double-digit drops. Robberies showed a decline of 54,000 over ten years, a decrease of 29.2%. The crime of burglary tumbled by 61,000 or 43%. Thefts went down by 25,000 or 49% and car thefts dropped by 3,000 or 27.3%. Other property crimes tumbled by 13,000 or 44.8%. The resulting state incarcerations for property crimes showed a decline of 118,000 or 45.2%.

In local jails, convictions for property crimes fell by 22,000 or 84.6%. Drug crimes have seen similarly large declines since 2015. Possession declined by 11,000 or 22.9%. Related drug crimes opaquely labeled as “Other” waned by 64,000 or 39%. Incarcerations for drugs in state prisons fell by 75,000 or 35.4%. In terms of convicted jail residents, drug arrests went down by 21,000 or 46.7%.

The same declining 10-year trend applied to public order crimes. Weapons convictions dropped by 8,000 or 15.4%. Driving under the influence went down by 10,000 or 38.5%. Other public order convictions dropped by 11,000 or 15.5%. Incarcerations for public order offenses fell by 29,000 or 19.5%. Jailed persons for public order offenses declined by 27,000 or 45.8%.

Assaults rose by 23,000 or 17%, to 158,000 from 135,000. Other violent crimes stayed unchanged at 42,000. Jail residents with violent convictions shrank by 20,000 or 47.6%. Other increases happened in crimes of manslaughter, which rose by 2,000 or 11.1%. Rape and sexual assault rose by 1.8%.

Finally, the number of carceral institutions also went down. The 2015 report asked, “Do policymakers and the public have the focus to also confront the geographically and politically dispersed second largest slice of the pie: the 3,283 local jails?” They did. Local jails decreased by 5.1% to 3,116.

In 2015, PPI reported 1,719 state prisons and its 2025 report listed 1,566 state prisons, a decline of 8.9%. Federal prisons declined from 102 to 98. Juvenile correctional facilities dropped by 43.5% from 2,259 to 1,277.