Racial Disparities in the Use of Jail Across New York City, 2016-2021

By Sarah Monaghan, Michael Rempel & Tao Lin Key Findings: 

A Widening Black-White Gap in the Incarceration Rate from 2016 to 2021, when Black people citywide were jailed at a rate 11.6 that of white people. Disparities in Jail Admissions in Every Borough.  Manhattan incarceration rates showed the most startling contrast; in 2016, Black people were jailed at a rate 23 times that of white people, which increased to 29.5 in 2021. 4 High Parole Violation Disparities & Rising Racial Disparities Among Pretrial Admissions.  While disparities were greatest for people admitted on parole violations across all years, there was not a recent shift towards this reality; instead, rising pretrial disparities largely explain the overall increase in racially disproportionate jail incarceration since 2016. Jail Incarceration Concentrated in Mostly Black and Brown Neighborhoods (also, Black People are Disproportionately Incarcerated No Matter Where they Live).  Of the 178 NYC zip codes, 40 (23%) accounted for a vastly disproportionate share (60%) of 2021 jail admissions. In turn, 60% of these 40 zip codes are in Central or South Brooklyn (10) or the Bronx (14). In 163 (92%) of all 178 NYC zip codes, a higher percentage of Black people were admitted to jail than live in the given zip code.

New York City: Data Collaborative for Justice at John Jay College, 2023. 41p.