Louisiana Loses Title of Most Incarcerated State

When I moved to Shreveport a few years ago, I was treated to this little fact:  I now lived in the most likely place in the world to get arrested and go to jail.  It breaks down like this:  In all of the world, the US has the highest incarceration rate of any nation.  In all of the US, Louisiana (at the time) had the highest incarceration rate of any state.  In all of the state, Caddo Parish had the highest incarceration rate of any parish.  Finally - out of all cities in the the parish, Shreveport had the highest incarceration rate.  Ergo - Shreveport, Louisiana was the most likely place in the world to get arrested and locked up.  My friends, that era is over.  Now there is a new champion of the hoosegow - the mighty state of Oklahoma!

For years, Louisiana has been cracking down on the causes of crime instead of the just the crime itself.  In addition, a major overhaul in the criminal justice system has led to massive, and quite obvious, changes in the incarceration rate.  Simultaneously, Oklahoma's fine-tuning of their system has been less effective.  Experts there predict the rate if incarceration there will slow, not stop or reverse as in Louisiana's case.

According to NOLA.com, Oklahoma's incarceration rate is 1,079 per 100,000 people, while Louisiana's is down to 1,052 per 100,000.