On November 1, there were 72,809 people imprisoned in French prisons, for 60,698 operational places, which corresponds to a prison density of 120 %.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
The number of detainees in France has reached a historic level at 1 er November, with 72,809 people imprisoned, while prisons have 60,698 operational places – which corresponds to a prison density 120 %, against 115.4 % a year ago, according to statistical data published by the Ministry of Justice, Sunday, November 27.
The previous highest number (72,575 detainees) was recorded in March 2020, on the eve of the first confinement decided to combat the pandemic of COVVI-19.
Confainment had resulted in a significant fall in the number of prisoners. The statistics had been listed regularly since, until grazing this historic level last month, with 72,350 people imprisoned dated October 1. 2> 2,225 detainees sleep on mattresses on the floor
Over a year, there are 2,997 additional prisoners -they were 69,812 at 1 er October 2021 -that is to say an increase of 4.3 %. According to official figures from the Ministry of Justice, 15,469 detainees are currently in excess compared to the places available in penitentiary establishments (against 13,170 a year ago). Due to this overcrowding, 2,225 are forced to sleep on mattresses placed on the ground.
Among the imprisoned people, 3.5 % are women and 0.8 %, minors. More than a quarter of detainees (26.9 %) are defendants, that is to say people waiting for judgment-and therefore presumed innocent. The prison density in remand homes, where these defendants are imprisoned and sentenced to short sentences, climbs to 142.8 %.