The city’s average daily population for the month of December dropped below 8,000 for the first time since 1980, de Blasio administration officials announced Thursday.
There were 7,959 people locked up in city jails last month compared to 8,939 during the same period in 2017, records show. The 11% drop is in part due to boosted alternative-sentencing programs in Brooklyn, Bronx and Manhattan and other services to allow people to remain in the community pretrial.
Low-level offenders, such as shoplifters, are unlikely to be sent to jail. Instead, they are placed in a variety of educational and social service programs.
Overall, jail admissions are down by 46% since 2013, records show.
The city is trying to reduce the jail population to 5,000 to make the shutdown Rikers plan feasible.
“We’re focused like a laser on dismantling the mass incarceration era,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement shortly before his State of the City address.
“Just like we’re eliminating needless arrests, we’re equally focused on eliminating needless jail stays for men and women we want to help get back on track and contributing to society,” he added. “This is huge progress, but we want to take it even further.”
