British Home Office, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Virginia is not alone in its zeal to place criminals behind bars. Locking people up is as American as apple pie these days and has become a benchmark of conservative politicians. Still, Virginia sticks out from the crowd. Virginia's crime rate ranks 36th among the 50 states, but its incarceration rate is the 19th highest. About 640 Virginians per 100,000 are behind bars.
Few states have incarceration rates that rank so much higher than their crime rates.
Virginia's crime rate is comparable to states like Iowa and Wisconsin, but its incarceration rate is closer to those of high-crime states like Florida and Maryland. West Virginia's incarceration rate is less than half of Virginia's. Behind these numbers is another key statistic. Virginia not only locks up a higher percentage of its residents than most states, but keeps them in prison longer. One-third of Virginia prisoners are serving 20 years to life, according to the 1998 Corrections Yearbook.