The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Philadelphia’s jail population has reached its lowest level in recent memory — the result of a behind-the-scenes effort that has quietly reduced the number of people incarcerated in city-run facilities by more than 20% over the last six months.

Fewer than 3,700 people were in city custody as of this week, according to data from the Philadelphia Department of Prisons — the lowest tally in at least a decade, and more than 50% lower than the 8,000 people who were jailed in 2015.

Just as notable, the reduction comes after the jail population had remained steady for nearly four years. Between January 2021 and September 2024, city figures show, the number of people in custody had consistently been between 4,300 and 4,800.

The recent drop is among the most significant short-term fluctuations over the last 10 years. One similar downturn was in 2020, at the onset of COVID-19 — a dip that was short-lived. Others were in 2018, after District Attorney Larry Krasner was sworn in on a promise to curb incarceration, and in 2016, when the city received a $3.5 million grant to reduce the number of people behind bars.

In contrast to some of those changes, however, this reduction comes as gun violence in the city continues to plunge. Homicides and shootings are both rivaling their lowest paces in Philadelphia history, police statistics show — meaning that if the trends hold, the city in 2025 could see record-low levels of both violence and incarceration.”

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