Inmate Escapes
Fiscal Year
2003-2004

Inmate Escape Report

This report provides information for the Fiscal Year (July - June) of 2003-2004 in reference to attempted escapes, escapes and recaptures from Florida’s correctional facilities. This report summarizes the following:

• Attempted escapes
• Escapes by level, facility type, and facility type by region
• Recaptures and recaptures within quarter, by time to recapture, and time to recapture by facility type
• Escape rates and rates by region, and facility type by region
• Escapes by facility type, by month
• Escape rates by region, by quarter

For purposes of this report attempted escape and escape are defined as follows:

• Attempted escape: Inmate is apprehended before completion of the escape act.
• Escape: Unauthorized absence from the designated facility boundary or absence from any official assignment outside this boundary.

• Level I: Escape from non-secure environment, such as a community correctional center or an outside work squad, in which no Level III behaviors are exhibited.
• Level II: Escape from a secure perimeter in which no Level III behaviors are exhibited.
• Level III: Escape that involves hostages, weapons/tools, outside assistance, or violence during or after the escape.

An escape rate is defined as the number of escapes/(total population on the last day of the month for each month in the quarter/3)*1,000.

A perimeter escape is defined as one initiated from inside the perimeter of a correctional facility other than a community release facility.

Summary

The number of escapes increased from 75 in FY 2002-2003 to 109 in FY 2003-2004. The majority of these escapes were from work release/contract centers (90.8%) and were the least serious type Level 1 escapes (98.2%). There were three escapes from a correctional institution, two of which were walk-a-ways from a work squad. There were two escapes that breached the secure perimeter of a correctional facility. This marks the first breaches of a secure perimeter in four fiscal years.

The overall escape rate rose from 1.00 in FY 2002-2003 to 1.37 in FY 2003-2004. The escape rate for correctional institutions, however, only rose slightly from 0.02 in FY 2002-2003 to 0.04 in FY 2003-2004.

Of the 109 completed escapes, 102 (93.6%) were recaptured to date of this report. Of the 102 recaptures, 95 (93.1%) were recaptured within the quarter in which the escape occurred and 58 (56.9%) were recaptured within 24 hours of the escape.

There were only two attempted and foiled escapes from Florida correctional facilities during FY 2003-2004 compared to 16 during FY 2002-2003.

Links to charts:

• Types of Escapes and Recaptures:
  • Escapes
  • Recaptures
• Escapes by Region/Facility
  • Region I
  • Region II
  • Region III
  • Region IV
• Inmate Escape Rates
• Inmate Escape Rates Per 1,000 Inmates
  • (All Facilities)
  • (Correctional Institutions)

Links to graphs:

• Escapes by Facility Type, by Month
• Escape Rate by Region, by Quarter
• Total Escapes