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Pennsylvania Gets New Study To Cut Crime, Prison Population

Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections

 

A new study designed to reduce crime and the size of Pennsylvania's prison population is about to get underway.

Gov. Tom Wolf and other government officials on Thursday announced Pennsylvania will be getting data crunching help and policy recommendations from the study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Council of State Governments' Justice Center and the U.S. Justice Department.

Topics will include how bail is set, the value of pretrial diversion and alternatives to incarceration.

Pennsylvania currently has about 50,000 state prison inmates and a $2.2 billion Corrections budget.

Wolf says he wants to reduce crime as well as the number of people who are victims of crime.

A similar study produced 2012 legislation that's been credited with helping reverse increases in the inmate population.

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